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Monodraught and Sir William Ramsay School creating brighter futures together

Monodraught’s Windcatchers are proving remarkably successful in many educational establishments, especially sports halls, where air quality and a constant supply of fresh, re-oxygenated air is absolutely vital. Here we take a look at a typical installation at a visual arts college in Buckinghamshire.
Twelve Monodraught Windcatcher natural ventilation units have been supplied and installed at the Performing Arts Block of the Hazelmere-based Sir William Ramsay School, to provide natural ventilation for its 600-seat Main Hall and adjacent Dance and Performance areas.
The Performing Arts Block fulfils an important role in the school’s facilities especially during Artsweek, when staff and students work on exciting and innovative projects as diverse as Islamic art and healthy eating. The week culminates in a visual display of artwork and a series of performances that create exactly the environment Windcatcher is designed to deal with.
The roof-mounted Monodraught Windcatchers, which harness the power of the wind to draw fresh air into the building, were specified to minimise running costs and maintenance. A total of ten, 1200mm diameter GRP units were installed in the Main Hall with two, 1000mm GRP units installed in the Dance and Performance area. These buildings benefit particularly from the unique top-down Monodraught arrangement because, by its very nature, mechanical ventilation is relatively expensive to install and operate and is often noisy. The problems of mechanical ventilation are also compounded by the need for regular maintenance.
Commenting for Sir William Ramsay School, business manager Richard Mapp says: “As the school’s motto is ‘Creating brighter futures together’, it seemed appropriate to specify a ventilation system that was not only economical and effective but also acceptable from an environmental perspective. Monodraught’s Windcatchers were the ideal solution and the entire facility now stays cool and refreshed, even when full of students letting off steam.”
Commenting on the benefits of the Windcatcher system to educational establishments in particular, Monodraught managing director Professor Terry Payne says in buildings such as assembly halls and sports halls, a considerable volume of warm air is generated from human body heat and the electric lighting.
Explaining the process of natural ventilation he says: “The main function of the Windcatcher is to catch the wind. Constant wind pressure blows cool fresh air into the roof mounted Windcatchers and as the incoming air is denser than the internal warm air, the cooler air naturally drops to floor level to create a refreshed, re-oxygenated environment in the space below. Being less dense than cool air, the warm stuffy air naturally rises and vents to atmosphere at ceiling level through the same Windcatchers. This natural process of ventilation is aided by a combination of thermal buoyancy and pressure equalisation and, as it cannot leave a vacuum behind, cool fresh air descends to replace the warm stale air – even when there is little or no wind.”
He adds that once installed, Windcatchers maximise the use of wind pressure and the natural stack effect of thermal buoyancy, which means schools reap all the benefits of sustainable energy and incur no running costs.“
“It is little wonder that Windcatchers are proving so popular.” says Terry, reporting that of the 4000-plus projects that have used Windcatchers in the last 15 years, more than 70% have been for schools and colleges. He also adds that many architects are now opting for the strong statement that Windcatchers make on the architectural roofline to emphasise the ‘green’ credentials of both the school and its local authority.
It is also worth noting that acoustic issues are equally important in educational establishments, where a lack of distraction from outside noise can help students’ concentration and therefore contribute to the learning process.
Windcatchers can help designers meet the stringent requirements of BB93 and ease the dilemma faced by the need to have openable windows, which themselves are prone to noise ingress. By drawing air from above roof level Windcatchers help to avoid the problems of traffic noise and pollution compared to low level windows. However, the design, using relatively large internal ducts in a cruciform shape, also lends itself to the application of acoustic material. As tests have proved, this feature is especially beneficial where noise reduction is a design consideration.
In January 2005, Monodraught commissioned the Building Research Establishment to carry out a series of airborne acoustic tests on the full range of Windcatcher systems, together with various insulation thicknesses. The results, when applied to a typical classroom served by a single GRP 800 square Windcatcher system (or equivalent rectangle of similar cross sectional area), show a 15dB reduction in noise transfer with an unlined system. With the addition of 25mm of insulation the reduction increases to 26dB.
For areas such a libraries, further reductions can be made by increasing the acoustic insulation thickness to 50mm, but the system size will also need to be increased accordingly to a single GRP 1000 square system. The combination of 1000 square system with 50mm of insulation achieves an impressive 31dB reduction.

Email: angela.dell@monodraught.com

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