Natural ventilation helps Derbyshire County Council to achieve its first A-rated building
A Monodraught natural-ventilation strategy has made a significant contribution to a new school in Chesterfield becoming Derbyshire County Council’s first A-rated building. Abercrombie Primary School replaces a building dating from 1873 and will accommodate 220 pupils aged three to 11.
The Monodraught equipment includes six Windcatchers, three Sola-boost Windcatchers and three INVent monitoring and control systems. There are also three Monovents to serve the mechanical extract systems in the kitchen and IT departments.
The ‘product approved’ specification was drawn up by the county council’s architects and M&E departments to meet the needs of the different spaces in the school.
Natural ventilation was required to meet the air changes outlined by the Building Bulletin, and the Part L calculations identified that classrooms on the south side might need extra ventilation on very hot days. The four north-facing junior classrooms have standard Windcatchers, and the south-facing reception and infant classrooms have Sola-boost Windcatchers that incorporate a solar-powered fan to boost airflow.
The Sola-boosts and other Monodraught equipment, which service five classrooms, a hall, a quiet study area, an IT department and a kitchen, are linked to temperature and CO2 sensors in each of the spaces. They are controlled by three Monodraught INVent automatic control panels. The INVent controllers are, in turn, linked to the BMS — enabling the natural ventilation to be controlled from anywhere in the world
