The new building is heated by its own dedicated plant. Condensing gas-fired boilers were installed as the main heat source for the building to minimise CO2 and NOx emissions. The dedicated condensing gas fired boiler system predominately serves underfloor heating manifolds, perimeter radiators and hot water storage.
The school is mainly naturally ventilated through opening windows and appropriately located ventilation stacks (or “chimneys”) rising from the ground floor classrooms up to the roof. Other areas, such as the toilets, are ventilated using local mechanical extract ventilation systems with a ducted discharge at roof level.
Local cooling systems for occupied spaces have not been allowed for (it was proposed that IT-intensive areas be provided with a dedicated cooling unit). Photovoltaics were also used to help achieve the energy targets. Due to the high level of low carbon design, the PV array was kept to a minimum.
