Best Practise Schools Project

Energy efficient school achieves return on investment in three years with the help of WALLTITE spray foam insulation

The board of governors of a new secondary school in Quebec, Canada wanted to create a model of energy efficiency with a pay back period of four to seven years on their investment. Three years after completion tests revealed that the school building had already achieved the required levels of efficiency.

With the UK governments policy to improve energy efficiency in buildings by up to 28%, Des Hauts-Sommets Secondary School project is an excellent best practice example of how such targets can be achieved using the right mix of insulation materials to meet Canadian national codes which are more stringent that those of the UK at present.

The challenge: To design and build a highly energy efficient school that justifies the additional construction costs associated with this. The client also needed to achieve their return on investment within a four to seven year period.

The board that governed the school wanted to create a model educational establishment by adopting the stringent energy requirements in the Model National Energy Code for Buildings (MNECB) by the Federal Energy Efficiency Office and then exceed these requirements by 25% so as to qualify for additional energy efficiency from the federal and provincial governments.

The solution: Using WALLTITE polyurethane insulation spray foam a seamless, airtight solution was created resulting in walls with an energy rating of R-36 which is equivalent to a U Value of 0.16 W/m²k. When applied to the UK and compared with UK Part L2A, this figure represents a significant improvement in wall insulation which would help achieve the government’s improvement targets of 20 -28%.

Other energy efficient elements included a gas heating system which supported high levels of air circulation together with room-by-room control. The roof construction using Styropor from BASF provided an R-41 factor which is equivalent to a U value of 0.14 W/m²K. Collectively these innovations alongside the use of WALLTITE within/around the building envelope resulted in a more energy efficient facility and increased comfort for the occupants of the school.

The outcome: The use of these energy efficient materials meant that the overall budget of $10 million was exceeded by only $150,000. The architects estimated that the energy savings would pay off the additional costs in four to seven years. However, the tracking systems put in place to monitor the building’s efficiency revealed that pay back was achieved in just over three years, exceeding the most optimistic estimates. Results over this three year period also showed that the operating costs had been reduced by an average of $52,000 annually.

The Tremblay L’Écuyer architects were very confident in their choice of WALLTITE as one of the products. WALLTITE contributes to improved energy efficiency by providing better insulating properties and improved air tightness than conventional materials and thus also meeting the stringent demands of the Canadian building codes.

WALLTITE is a well established product having been specified in Canada for over 24 years on numerous projects in the commercial and residential sector. Furthermore, Tremblay had used WALLTITE as an insulation and airtight solution since then. “We have worked very closely with BASF for years,” says Tremblay. He has come to count on the personal involvement of BASF for quality control and follow up.

The architect and client created a state of the art school using commercially available products from BASF. In Canada their achievement was recognised by the Association Québécoise pour le Maîtrise de l’Énergie with a prestigious Concours Énergia Award for the most stringent and encompassing energy category.