Rogiet School was officially awarded a score of 78.8% and Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM)-Excellent rating, and has also won the 2010 BREEAM Schools Award. The project, commissioned by Monmouthshire County Council, was designed by UK-based architectural practice and sustainability consultancy White Design and constructed by UK-based construction firm Willmott Dixon. The brief was to make the school an exemplar of sustainable design.
Due to the location of the school between a railway line and close to both the M4 and M48 motorways, the architects had to overcome noise issues as an integral part of the design. High levels of insulation, recycled, natural materials and renewable energy are some of the ingredients that went into the making of this sustainable school. The school features a ‘Community Room’ available for use by the local community in addition to the Key stage 1 and Key stage 2 classrooms and reception entry class.
The design statement called for a natural ventilation system with automated and manual façades and roof windows controlled by a building management system (BMS) which could be used to provide visual data on the operation of the building including temperature, CO2 concentration and energy use.
The potential difficulty in the design was keeping windows open in an area where noise is a problem. WindowMaster, Europe’s largest provider of natural comfort and smoke ventilation solutions, was chosen to provide the window automation system for Rogiet School. WindowMaster has designed a system that opens windows on either side of the building, enough to allow suitable ventilation but keep noise out. It includes 50 window actuators controlling windows in ten different zones around the school, various sensors and a weather station.
The control system understands and knows how the wind speed and direction on all façades will influence the airflow through the windows on each level and location in the façade. WindowMaster determines the Cp values individually for each window by calculating the relevant air pressures from different wind speeds and directions.
WindowMaster carries out computational fluid dynamic calculations for 16 wind directions for the specific building and its surroundings. Based on the calculations the Cp values are determined and programmed into the control system, which enables the precise control of the individual windows resulting in an optimal indoor climate. Each zone operates independently of the others according to the specific external conditions relevant to those windows and the internal environment.
Rogiet Primary School is also shortlisted for the Constructing Excellence Wales Project of the Year and the Low/Zero Carbon Award 2010.
WindowMaster based in Kettering, Northamptonshire is part of the Denmark-based VKR Group, which also includes Velux roof windows, Velfac window and facade systems, Rationel Windows and Faber sun-screening products.
