A key element of the government's ambitious education target is the criteria that every new school will be zero carbon by 2016. If designers are to meet this target then they will have to solve the complex relationship between energy consumption, ventilation, thermal comfort and acoustics. For existing buildings the recently introduced DECs means that public buildings must demonstrate improvements in operational energy use year on year and strive to improve ratings.
This government emphasis on transforming the energy efficiency of its education buildings means that to win and satisfy public sector contracts, building service engineers and facilities managers must demonstrate how they can significantly reduce energy usage through the selection and optimisation of building controls and technologies. Successful players will need to master holistic energy strategies and tight-fit building services design as outlined in this feature.
This unprecedented growth in education, design, delivery and service management has created a very real need for information and debate on the subject and below are details of three very topical and timely events to which Education Today readers are entitled to a 15% discount: Quote Education Today to receive your discount.
Delivering Transformation Educational Buildings, 3-5th November 2008, CCT Barbican London
Monday 3rd November- pre-conference focus day : Quantifying and capitalising on the growing opportunities in Higher and Further Education
Tuesday 4th November- one day conference : Assessing and learning from the success of the Building Schools for the Future in terms of results, delivery, stakeholder engagement and integration
Wednesday 5th November- post-conference focus day : Understanding and exploiting the growing opportunities in the Primary Capital Programme
This unique event will bring together all the key stakeholders from schools, local authorities, contractors and architects to hear from 26 expert speakers across the three days, including:
- Partnerships for Schools' newly appointed Design Director and CABE's Chairman of the Design review panel
- London Borough of Southwark and Sheffield City Councils
- Taylor Woodrow and Miller Construction
- Aedas, Marks Barfield Architects and Make Architects
Call: 020 79218039 to book
Delivering Sustainable Public Buildings, 11th December 2008, Royal Statistical Society
An essential event for building services engineers involved in the planning, design and management of public buildings. Focussing on how to:
- Design building services to match public building occupancy profiles
- Optimise building services' controls and evaluate the role of intelligent controls
- Assess the performance of innovative lighting, heating and ventilation technologies
- Implement energy management strategies to reduce operational energy usage
- Quantify energy reductions from passive and active technologies to plan a holistic energy strategy
Call: 020 79218039 to book
How to Design for Schools - Free to attend online webinar
Providing detailed, technical information and guidance on how to specify for schools and educational projects.
Duration: 40 minutes of presentations followed by interactive Q&A Building Services Journal's first online seminar will focus on the key aspects of building services design for zero carbon schools and in particular the issue of classroom ventilation. Leading manufacturers representing heating, ventilation and piping will share best practice advice from their most successful applications and will discuss questions including the following:
- Is natural ventilation the most appropriate solution?
- Is it easier to meet the requirements of Building Bulletin 101 using mechanical ventilation?
- What are the issues relating to acoustics?
- How can the occupants be persuaded to use the buildings in a sustainable way?
