Natural ventilation and cooling

Achieving 5 Star Green Star rating for school in NZ

Ormiston Road Senior College in Auckland, due for completion in October 2010, was recently awarded a 5 Star Green Star rating by the independent Green Building Council of New Zealand. A total of 68 points were achieved overall, six points shy of a 6 Star rating. The use of Windcatchers allowed the college to secure one point for Green Star Innovation.

Sydney-based Vento Australasia has supplied the 83 Monodraught Windcatcher units that are to provide integrated natural ventilation and cooling for the public high school located at Ormiston Road, east Auckland.

Use of the Sola Boost Windcatcher natural ventilation technology has been instrumental in the school achieving a 5 Star Green Star rating, and has contributed to reduced costs as the units are energy and maintenance free and, in some cases, make the use of air conditioning non-essential. They are also endorsed under the independent Ecospecifier assessment which identifies embodied energy and life-cycle costs using an internationally validated protocol.

Sam Rochaix, Sales and Marketing Director of Vento Australasia, says, “Each Windcatcher unit is custom engineered based on the specifications of the particular installation and provides a cost-effective cooling system that harnesses the prevailing wind and difference in pressure and temperature created by variances in height between the building roof and ground level.”

“Air conditioning adds dramatically to energy consumption in the built environment and is a large contributor to carbon emissions as it accounts for as much as 40% of the total energy used in a commercial building.

“Natural ventilation of buildings will play a much larger role in future development and, with Ormiston Road set to become New Zealand’s first 5 Star-rated school, it is a perfect showcase for the benefits of this technology.”

The New Zealand Ministry of Education (MOE) has previously stated that a standard school air-conditioning system costs approximately $100,000 per year in maintenance and running costs.

According to Rochaix, New Zealand’s climate is arguably better suited to the Monodraught system than the UK where it was designed and has been in use for decades.

“With temperatures rarely exceeding 30°C in summer, New Zealand is perfectly suited to this technology, and there is massive potential for its use in both private and public infrastructure as well as residential development,” he said.

The Ormiston Road School is designed by Auckland-based Jasmax Architects and WSP Lincolne Scott is the project’s service engineers. Fletcher Construction is currently building the school, which is expected to open in early 2011.