Leading the way in Environmental Sustainable Design
St Catherine’s School is minimising its carbon footprint with its new Sports and Aquatic Centre leading the way in Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD).
In a first for a Victorian school, the St Catherine’s Sports and Aquatic Centre incorporates environmentally cutting-edge cogeneration (CHP or Combined Heat and Power Plant) technology, which will allow the building to produce its own electricity to run the pool and heat the Centre, radically reducing its CO2 output.
Cogeneration is the concurrent generation of electricity and heat from the one fuel source. The sports and Aquatic Centre’s cogeneration plant will enable the facility to use natural gas to generate its electricity, and the heat which is generated as a by-product, will be used to heat the Aquatic Centre’s pool and air temperature. Ultimately, this means that the St Catherine’s Sports and Aquatic Centre will not be drawing any of its energy source from the Victorian Electricity Grid. The cogeneration plant will significantly reduce the amount of CO2 emissions on two fronts; firstly it will reduce the building’s overall energy consumption, and secondly, the generation of electricity from natural gas is far cleaner than using brown coal.
St Catherine’s Principal, Sylvia Walton AO, said the new Sports and Aquatic Centre was built strongly in line with the School’s commitment to environmental sustainability.
“As St Catherine’s is already a Four Star Sustainable School, it was vital that the new Sports and Aquatic Centre infrastructure incorporated an eco-friendly and Environmentally Sustainable Design.”
“The Centre will not only greatly reduce the School’s energy consumption and carbon footprint, but highlight to our students the practical and achievable ways their local community can make a difference to the global eco-landscape.”
Further environmental features of the St Catherine’s Sports and Aquatic Centre include:
- An Integrated Building Management System (BMS). The BMS will manage occupancy and light levels, and decide when the plant is required to run. If it senses that the building is unoccupied it can turn off lights and the plant, ensuring that energy is only used when required
- A 500,000 litre water tank which will provide water for backwashing the pools, flushing the toilets, and irrigating the surrounding trees and gardens
- Double glazing on all glass panels, keeping air temperature consistent
- Glass walls and glass panels in the ceiling for maximum light, limiting the need to use power for lighting
- Sensor taps in the showers and hand basins
- Low flow water meters on the showers
- Sensor lighting in all plant and storage rooms