Design leads environmentally friendly education for Hertfordshire pupils

2016-07-22T11:49:00-04:00

Howe Dell Primary in Hatfield could well be the UK’s most eco-friendly school. It has toilets that flush using rainwater, sedum roofs made of plants and vegetation, and classroom sink-tops made from recycled yoghurt pots. But the school’s design doesn’t just help protect the environment, it also uses nature to improve children’s academic performance and behaviour.

Howe Dell Primary’s £10 million, eco-friendly design is used by teachers to promote sustainability to a new generation of pupils. Capita Architects were given free reign to push the limits of sustainable design in the project, which was funded by the council, and that was exactly what they did. The school features solar panels, a wind turbine, and a heating system that uses a series of pipes just below the surface of the school playground for passive gain that is then utilised to heat the school.

This groundbreaking design was awarded ECO Green Flag accreditation (the highest level awarded to sustainable schools in the UK) and places pupils in close proximity to nature. To this end, the design’s wetland area and sedum roofs are used to study birds and the school places sustainability at the core of the curriculum. This learning is even extended to the playground where learning stations allow pupils to examine the habitats of micro-beasts. In this way, the whole building is understoo...

Glen Small gets podcasted by the Urban Homesteaders at Root Simple

2016-02-05T00:00:00-05:00

In seventies I would ask the architects if they were doing anything ecological with their work and they wold turn around and say who is this guy get him out of here...

Mr Homegrown interviews Glen Small.

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Design leads environmentally friendly education for Hertfordshire pupils

Glen Small gets podcasted by the Urban Homesteaders at Root Simple