Renew School

School buildings are places of major public interest. Children are educated in life’s basics, in some schools beyond that. Therefore not only the educational system itself, but also the conditions of these buildings are very important signals to the public, even to the pupils themselves. Schools were mostly built between 1950ies and 1980ies. Beside educational aspects the school buildings are presently in high need of renovation. Together with the discussions about future education the topic is on the political agenda. But even when the school buildings are in poor condition most of the school owners lack of financial resources to retrofit them in a comprehensive way. The RENEW SCHOOL project aims at retrofitting a great amount of school buildings to highest nearly zero energy buildings (nZEB) standards. It will, by promoting appropriate tools and measures, help to downsize the energy use significantly as well as create and secure comfortable conditions for the pupils and teachers. Sustainable school renovation actions build on following three focus points promoted by this project (the “RENEW SCHOOL way” of renovation):
Improvement of the building’s envelope by coating it with insulated prefabricated timber modules including wooden frame windows, solar shading and ventilation components.
Improvement of the indoor environment quality (IEQ) by ventilating, passive cooling and daylight upgrading the classrooms.
Improvement of the energy generation on site by using active renewable energy sources, beside the passive gains, integrated in the school buildings.
Even more important is supporting decisions for best renovation practice by offering good examples, new ideas and technologies in the field of school renovation and its funding schemes, and last but not least a suitable platform to exchange these knowledge and experiences.