Richmond Hill Primary School receives Passivhaus certification
Richmond Hill Primary School in Leeds is now the fifth certified Passivhaus school in the UK.
Richmond Hill Primary School, constructed by Interserve, is thought to be the largest Passivhaus-certified building in the UK with 630 students, a specialist Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) facility for up to 16 children with special educational needs and a twenty-six place nursery. It has been designed by the architectural and urban design company ‘_space group’ supported by BGP (Structural Engineers) and Hoare Lea (Building Services Engineers).
Superb levels of insulation, coupled with a highly efficient mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR) system have all contributed to the building achieving its Passivhaus certification.
Helping to achieve superior levels of thermal insulation is Interserve’s solution for the eradication of cold bridging between the building’s piled foundations and steelwork frame, using high-strength insulation normally used in industrial process plant installations.
Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) manufactured off-site featuring polyurethane insulation have been used to form the structural fabric of the walls (U-Value of 0.1W/m2K), and further SIPs panels with extra mineral wool insulation form the roof of the new building.
Triple glazed timber windows, certified by the Passivhaus Institut, facilitate excellent standards of thermal insulation, whilst also helping to keep air leakage to a minimum. The specific heat demand of the building is 11kWh/m2/year and the Primary Energy Demand is 112kWh/m2/year which will contribute to the building's lower energy costs.
Tests have revealed the school has achieved an impressive 0.25 ACH, which is just 1/20 of the ACH level required by British Building Regulations.
Richmond Hill Primary School has recently won the Yorkshire and Humberside Constructing Excellence Innovation Award and has been built in partnership with Leeds City Council as part of the Leeds Primary Capital Programme.
Read the full article on the Green Building Press website here.
Image courtesy Green Building Press
31st October 2012
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