By Keith Minster, Sales Manager UK & Ireland for Morley-IAS by Honeywell

Recent research has identified that more than 90% of the general public rarely think about how to get out of a building, whether or not they use it regularly.  In the event of a fire alarm, the most common response is ‘to follow the people around me’, with more than one quarter of respondents ‘assuming that it is a false alarm until advised otherwise’.

By Mike Lamb, Managing Director of Warmafloor

A good education is one of the cornerstones of contemporary society and, in order for children to attain their highest academic potential, it is imperative that the buildings in which they are educated provide the optimum environment for them to learn and grow.

While infections caused by the legionella bacterium (Legionnaire's disease) are relatively uncommon, vigilance against the organism has to be maintained because of the relative virulence (and lethality) of the condition, and the ease with which outbreaks could occur.

THE Government guidance, BB 100: Design for fire safety in schools, issued by the Department for Children, Schools and Families in England and Wales in 2007, reiterates the well-known fact that smoke inhalation is the biggest cause of fire deaths, and places much emphasis on controlling smoke spread and preventing it from entering escape routes, particularly through the use of physical barriers.

When The Glasgow School of Art decided to refurbish its world famous Mackintosh Building, it knew that the introduction of a competent and efficient building management system (BMS) would be vital to the facility's ongoing success, both as a functional seat of education and a historic place of interest.

New research from energy company npower has revealed that schools in Britain waste an average of £2,000 a year on energy bills, equating to an accumulative 400,000 tonnes of CO2 across the country. The problem is most marked in secondary schools, with those surveyed each wasting an average of £7,700 - or 10% of their annual energy bill.

Public sector spend on building projects, in particular educational and health facilities, has been one of the few glimmers of hope for the construction industry this year - even after the government put a squeeze on some of the funding available.

Correct lighting is important in all areas of life, but if we were to quantify which activities require the highest quality of light, then lighting for education would be fairly near the top of that list.

Schools have always been noisy places, and it is perhaps not surprising to learn that teachers form a disproportionate percentage of those who attend hospital clinics with voice injuries. Prolonged use of the voice coupled with a frequent need to shout above the din of the classroom is often cited as the cause of these injuries. Children are also affected by noise.

Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is the biggest-ever school buildings investment programme in the country and aims to rebuild or renew nearly every secondary school in England. It has created a unique opportunity for building consortia, specifiers and local authorities to create learning environments for children that are safe and secure, and where the buildings are easily and efficiently controlled in a low-lifetime cost, environmentally responsible manner.

When the IT revolution commenced in earnest it was evident that the most able section of our society to absorb the new technology were the kids.  Their intuitive approach to all things new meant that the learning process was fast and easy for them, leaving the adults building technophobia barriers of "yes, but...why....how?"  In general we adults have now caught up, but there is a valuable lesson to be learnt in not underestimating children's ability to grasp large concepts, such as energy conservation, especially if it is presented in a child-friendly format.

Monodraught launched SunPipes in the UK 14 years ago and these proved an immediate success with schools both in the refurbishment of existing school buildings and to be incorporated into new school designs.  Architects and consultants were very quick to recognise the advantages of using SunPipes instead of conventional rooflights because of the advantages of eliminating the heat gain and heat loss associated with conventional rooflights and glare that occurs in many instances.  The reduction in energy consumption, by eliminating the need for electric lighting during daytime use, was also a significant factor but yet another advantage that cannot be overlooked is the health benefits associated with piping in natural daylight.

The ambitious BSF programme will see almost every school in England rebuilt or refurbished in the next 15 years. This investment is underpinned by Building Bulletin 101 which provides the regulatory framework in support of the Building Regulations for the adequate provision of ventilation in schools. It deals with the design of school buildings to meet the ventilation requirements of both The School Premises Regulations and the Building Regulations Part F (Ventilation).

CP Electronics has supplied lighting controls for use throughout the new state-of-the-art Wood View Learning Community, which includes the Whitleigh Community Primary School in Plymouth, Devon.

A new building for Bowbridge Primary School in Newark will incorporate a range of sustainability features including a Hoval biomass boiler, solar water heating, rainwater toilet flushing and a sedum roof. The building has also been designed to make full use of natural daylight and non-mechanical ventilation.

The new building for the Marlowe Academy in Ramsgate, Kent, has been designed to be extremely energy efficient to heat and cool.  Crucially it has a building management system (BMS) from Trend Control Systems, designed and installed by a Trend Partner company, Total Control Services Ltd, based in Tonbridge, Kent. 

Luxo has won a major contract to supply complete lighting schemes for six Dundee Primary Schools. The Company has provided McGill Electrical, the project's contractors, with an innovative lighting solution offering significant cost savings without compromising the quality of the fittings or the overall lighting requirements.

With the recent installation of a ModuSol solar package, new Purewell VariHeat condensing boilers and direct fired Dorchester water heaters, all supplied by Hamworthy Heating, Duppas Junior School in Croydon has invested in sustainable technology for the future.

Leicester Grammar and Leicester Grammar Junior Schools recently relocated to a purpose-built complex in South Leicestershire, which brings the two schools together on one 75 acre site to provide state-of-the-art educational facilities for boys and girls from the age of 3 up to 18.

"The Building Schools for the Future programme will provide world class learning environments to inspire and engage young minds" is what Gordon Brown said recently about the programme, which sums up its ultimate objective in a single statement.

Given that the government's has stated its commitment to achieving carbon neutrality for schools by 2016, it's clear that the education sector is to play a pivotal role in meeting the UK's overall emissions targets.

Most schools have sufficient year-round heat load to be ideal candidates for biomass heating. Around 90% of energy for school heating and hot water can be satisfied by biomass although this is a conservative estimate as, in real examples reviewed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), a boiler sized at 50% of the peak could deliver 95% savings in fossil fuel energy use.