Groundbreaking Blueprint for Low - Energy Schools Unvieled.
Tarmac Building Products has unveiled a groundbreaking new design blueprint to help local authorities and contractors deliver the next generation of low and zero-carbon schools.
The ‘Nurture Future’ initiative, a partnership between Tarmac Building Products and Cartwright Pickard Architects, is the first concept to provide an integrated design combining all the structural, environmental and architectural elements required to develop a low-energy school. WSP has been engaged to provide consultancy services for the environmental performance of the system.
The innovative design uses pre-engineered precast panels and frame components to maximise the high thermal mass of exposed concrete, together with new heating and cooling technology to reduce energy consumption.
The exposed concrete ceilings can be heated or cooled using circulated water or air to deliver the lowest energy footprint as well as comfortable and stable temperatures for learning. Incoming ventilation air can be pre-heated or pre-cooled through a patent-pending phase change earth duct chamber, using the thermal mass of the ground to minimise the seasonal effects of the climate.
The robust, high-quality precast design offers speed of construction, lower build costs and reduced onsite waste. As a flexible design template, Nurture Future can be tailored to individual site requirements, as well as offering schools the long-term ability to reconfigure space with moveable internal walls.
Commenting on the initiative, Darren Waters, Executive Director - Commercial, Tarmac Building Products, said: “Nurture Future is the first education concept to bring together the expertise of a building product supplier, architect and environmental consultant in order to provide a viable blueprint for low and zero-carbon schools. This collaboration provides contractors with a unique package to help deliver a generation of schools which combine well-designed learning environments with low and zero-carbon footprints.”
James Pickard, Director, Cartwright Pickard, said: “Nurture Future is an exciting proposition from an architectural perspective. Good design is a great influencer on well-being and has a positive impact on the experience within a learning environment. Combining this with the latest thinking in creating low carbon construction has been an exciting journey so far, and one which we believe will yield lasting positive results across the country.”
