The Sandal Magna School in Wakefield, West Yorkshire has received a 2011 RIBA award. The new school was designed and built with sustainability in mind and is one of the most carbon efficient schools in the UK. Offering outstanding thermal efficiency and green credentials, EcoTherm polyisocyanurate (PIR) boards provided a sustainable insulation solution for the roof, walls and floors of the new School. The use of EcoTherm PIR insulation helped the green school building project to exceed thermal efficiency standards under current Building Regulations by at least 10%. Having won a RIBA Award, Sandal Magna Community Primary School now goes forward to be considered for the RIBA Stirling Prize 2011 for Building of the Year.
The Sandal Magna School was chosen to receive the Government’s Zero Carbon Exemplar Funding for its innovative use of renewable energy and sustainable materials. Designed by London-based Sarah Wigglesworth Architects, the new school consists of three single-storey wings linked by a series of glazed sections. Sustainable features include a ground-source heat pump powered by a 100m2 photovoltaic array, and bricks reclaimed from the demolished Victorian school building it replaces. Commenting on the decision to specify EcoTherm, Project Architect Mark Hadden says: “EcoTherm’s thermal calculations based on our design specifications showed that we could easily meet, and even exceed UK Building Regulations, using their high efficiency PIR insulation.”
EcoTherm 60mm Eco-Cavity PIR board was being used to insulate cavity walls in the new school. This purpose-designed solution is faced with aluminium foil on both sides to enhance thermal resistance of the retained cavity. The 1200mm x 450mm boards co-ordinate with standard sized brick and block dimensions and are easily fitted to partial-fill cavity walls without impacting on the building’s useable space.
The school roof combines flat, pitched and sedum planted elements. Flat roof sections were insulated with 100mm EcoTherm Eco-Bond PIR board which has a mineral coated glass fibre tissue on both sides. Pitched roofs are insulated with 2400mm x 1200mm EcoTherm Eco-Versal PIR boards – comprising of an aluminium foil composite on both sides. Suitable for warm/cold pitched roofs, loft ceilings and floors, this versatile product in a 75mm thick version also provided high performance insulation within the school’s under floor heating system.
In addition to high thermal efficiency, EcoTherm PIR board offers zero ozone depletion, a Global Warming Potential of 3 (well below the target limit of 5) and excellent durability - all of which contribute to a building’s sustainability rating. The stable and inert structure of the board gives it an almost indefinite service life, with no degradation in energy saving properties over the complete life cycle of the building - so there is no reduction in the building’s low carbon performance, and no energy is required to make or install replacements.