Windowmaster Natural ventilation Smoke ventilation Window automation Window controls News 071211

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WINDOWMASTER - Bournville College Redevelopment Is Naturally Ventilated By Windowmaster

Bournville College (www.bournville.ac.uk) has re-opened at its new Longbridge campus in Birmingham. As part of a total investment of £66 million in the project WindowMaster (www.windowmaster.co.uk) has supplied natural ventilation control systems for various buildings around the campus.

Built on the site of the former MG-Rover plant, the Longbridge campus consolidates three existing campuses into a single 4.2 acre site. It provides a learning setting for 15,000 students. The new facility includes a motor vehicle maintenance area and training facilities for hairdressing, beauty, catering and construction. In addition, it includes a state-of-the-art conference centre and sports facilities which are open to the community.

Bournville College was built by Shepherd Construction (www.shepherd-construction.co.uk) and regeneration company St Modwen (www.stmodwen.co.uk) and designed by Birmingham architects Broadway Malyan (www.broadwaymalyan.com).

WindowMaster was selected because it was able to provide a model for an innovative and cost-effective natural ventilation solution that worked according to the consultants’ brief.

The six storey Bournville College is housed in a building comprising distinct blocks interlinked around a central double height atrium. The building has been designed to achieve a BREEAM rating of Excellent and features an exposed concrete frame to the spine of the building to assist with night-time cooling.

WindowMaster regional sales manager Gino Delaroche explained: “The system we supplied for Bournville College in Birmingham is the NV Advance™ system. It is designed to interface with the building management system (BMS) to support the night cooling strategy as well as provide ventilation during the day.

“The ventilation system at Bournville College controls 350 actuators supplied by sister company VELFAC to control 50 zones. Also included in the project is the provision for smoke ventilation in the atria and the stair cores.”

WindowMaster, Europe’s largest provider of natural comfort and smoke ventilation solutions, was chosen to provide the window automation system for Bournville College because of its ability to provide a complete installation, in particular the central computer control system. The installation includes window actuators, various sensors and a weather station.

The weather station monitors external conditions around the building, including wind direction and speed, temperature and rain fall. Changes in wind pressure on the facades are also modelled. These parameters are programmed into the computer control system where they are analysed along with readings taken from the weather station and sensors fitted internally. Windows around the building are then precisely controlled and positioned to keep air quality within rooms fresh and the temperature constant.

WindowMaster’s NV Advance™ window automation system is the only system in Europe that intelligently monitors windows to prevent entrapment as an integrated function of the motor and control system. It can provide almost failsafe security against the possibility of injury while windows are closing.

If an object, or hands or fingers, becomes trapped in a window and prevents it from closing the amount of current drawn by the motor instantly increases. This is detected by the microprocessor which immediately reverses the motor to release the window, therefore preventing the possibility of serious injury.

The system can be retrofitted on many existing windows as well as being installed on new buildings. It can operate on a broad range of window types, including top and bottom opening, sliding and parallel opening. The system can also be used on windows for heat and smoke ventilation.