Education PPP benefits from Passivent natural ventilation
Six secondary schools built on a £130 million PPP for East Dunbartonshire Council are naturally ventilated using Passivent systems to help them achieve a minimum ‘Very good’ BREEAM rating. Project architect Aedas & Archial designed each school to be naturally ventilated using Passivent Airstract terminals.
In all, 50 Airstract terminals have been installed. The largest school, Bishopbriggs Academy for 1200 pupils, has 12 units. The smallest, Turnbull High with 650 pupils, has five.
Passivent Airstract terminals use the passive stack principle to harness convection from rising warm air and the venturi effect (wind passing across a terminal to cause suction) to maintain ventilation flow rates and CO2 levels in accordance with ‘Building bulletin 101 — ventilation for school buildings’. The only electricity needed is to power the motorised ventilation louvres to adjust extract rate according to internal air quality. Replacement fresh air is admitted through vents above windows and doors.
The system can run overnight to provide ‘free’ night cooling.
