DON JAMIESON ARCHITECTURE - building in harmony with nature

ECO PLANS

ENVIRONMENTAL SCHOOL ROOM

OVERVIEW

The Environmental School Room is designed to aid and support learning about sustainability and ecological building as well as providing a comfortable internal classroom environment for the students and teachers.

The building can be designed to suit each school's particular needs and can be built as a single room or in clusters. Contact Don Jamieson Architercture for your project.

Each school community has individual values and resources that are worth incorporating into the process of making and inhabiting a new building. Each site is different and needs appropriate responses to create a sustainable environment.

The building 'template' consists of a self-supporting structural frame to which other building components are incorporated into the final design.

There are many varied materials available to go into making up a building. Each item has values attached to it in terms of sustainability and ecology, these values need to be weighed up in conjunction with the overall aims of the community to arrive at the most sustainable and environmentally friendly building in the eyes of the people putting the building together.

The best model will be different for each school. There is no standard Environmental School Room.

The plan of the Environmental School Room is based on an octagon that allows flexibility of interior layouts. It shows a wet area within the room with a storage area off to the side along with separate toilet facilities accessed from the outside deck. The plan allows for easy connection to more rooms of a similar design.

ECOLOGY

Site Integration - Orientation

The schoolroom is orientated towards the playground and garden which is located on warm sunny side of the building, providing shelter from cold winds. A permaculture garden adds to local air quality and reduces excess heat in front of the building. Trees provide shading beyond face of building. Simple roof form collects water for reuse in toilet, sink and garden.

Appropriate Materials

Material selection favours non-toxic local natural materials, minimum processing and transportation. these factors balanced against life cycle costing and embodied energy values.

Energy Efficiency

Thermal mass is provided in north facing storage wall for best winter solar gains. Tthick floors, walls and roof allow high levels of non-toxic insulation. Heat recovery ventilator used to provide fresh air without losing heat. Solar electric cells and battery storage easily incorporated into building. Solar hot water to provide hot water needs.

Elimination of Wastes

Low flush composting toilet and low-pressure water supply to reduce water usage. Rain water collected on roof for reuse. Grey water able to be used as trickle irrigation to trees.

Flushing composting toilet with separator provides user-friendly system. Rubbish and recycling separated within Schoolroom and outside. Composting or warm farm in the garden.

A section through the building shows the various passive environmental control methods designed into the room providing natural daylighting, heating and good air quality.

ECONOMY

Thermal energy efficient design will minimize heating and ventilation energy input. This an be verified by computer analysis. Back-up heating method can be chosen as most appropriate for location.

Lighting energy minimized by high levels of natural lighting. Artificial lighting controlled by intelligent sensors - lighting levels adjusted to suit daylight and lights automatically switched of when room vacant.

Solar technologies incorporated to supply electricity and hot water. Water cost reduced by recycling rainwater.

A strip of photovoltaic cells along the north face can provide electricty as well as shading to the large verandah and a roof to the thermal stroage wall. The verandah provides an outside teaching space and a covered link if two rooms were built together.

PEOPLE

Learning

Energy use, temperature, humidity and lighting levels can all be monitored. The school community can experience the dynamics of teamwork during the design and building process. Students can participate in maintenance of building, learning about the choices in cleaning and long-term maintenance.

Health

Interior spaces designed to optimize natural lighting, ventilation and heating. Air quality maintained by heat recovery ventilator - ensuring good air for optimum learning. Acoustic ceiling tiles and wall linings create good interior acoustic environment. the building can be closely linked to an exterior garden environment, this improves local air quality and moderates temperatures, it also provides an educational and peaceful, relaxing space.

To have the Environmental School Room designed for your school, contact Don Jamieson Architecture

The interior is designed for natural lighting from the north facing windows as well as a roof light shaded to prevent glare and overheating. The large roof overhangs prevent excess sunlight from entering the room during summer months. A bank thermal mass in the north wall provides solar storage to moderate the interior temperature, providing heating in the winter and cooling in the summer.