Insulation, Solar Panels, Heat Pumps and Wind Turbines From Mark Group

Southfields Special School

February 2008

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Southfields Special School in Wokingham, is a residential school for disadvantaged children.

The Challenge

Mark Group became involved in the project through the Low Carbon Buildings Programme Phase 2 and worked in partnership with Landmark Energy. The programme provides grants for the installation of microgeneration technologies in a range of buildings to include households, community organisations, public, private and the non-profit sectors.

Mark Group surveyed the school and residential wing, which can accommodate up to 16 children boarding on a weekly basis, for suitable renewable technologies. As Southfields had already installed an array of Photovoltaic cells, a Solar Hot Water system was a natural complement to this and we found that the school would be suitable for this type of technology.

Before both installations began, representatives from the Mark Group, Sharp and British Gas arranged to visit the school and spoke to the children explaining the new technologies, the installation processes and to answer any questions they had.

The Solution

Mark Group was able to install two Worcester Bosch FKC solar panels on the roof of the residential block, angled to capture sunlight for the maximum amount of time each day.

The system will supply hot water for the school residential block shower facilities, therefore, reducing their heating bills by up to 40%.

The work was carried out in the February half term in 2008 so there was no disruption for the children.

The new technologies will not only save money on both heating and electricity bills for the school, but will also raise the awareness of environmental issues/topics for the children.

The Government wants every school to be a sustainable school by 2020 and the Secretary of State for Education has set out challenging long-term aspirations for schools to incorporate learning about sustainable development issues and practices into everyday school life. Southfields School now have a head start in reaching this target.

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