Solar Solutions Are a Class Act for Piper’s Hill College

New Community College in Kildare makes educated decision on energy

The arrival of the new Piper’s Hill Community College in Kildare has received a warm welcome by the local community. Not only is it a state-of-the-art educational facility, but it is also demonstrating the benefits of ‘green’ technology to students and local people alike, by introducing environmental systems throughout the whole campus.

When designing the college, Clarke & Associates Consulting Engineers was approached by the CEO of Kildare Vocational Educational Committee (VEC), Sean Ashe, with a list of requirements for the new school. Key to the new build was to ensure the campus was cost-effective, that it had a renewables focus and an educational aspect that could be linked back into the classroom.

Advising on the project was Director of Operations, Gerd Benndorf, from Clarke & Associates who recommended that in order to meet with all the college’s requirements and budget constraints, the following would be beneficial: solar technology, rainwater harvesting, high-efficiency gas fired boilers and intelligent lighting controls. Two of the most innovative eco-elements were Solamax, Kingspan Solar's photovoltaic panels, and Kingspan Solar’s award-winning Thermomax solar thermal vacuum tube collectors. As Kingspan Solar accredited design engineers, Clarke & Associates was well-placed to advise on the build as it specialises in the design and installations on eco technologies.

Gerd comments: “As the new campus encompasses several facilities, the main buildings that we were briefed on were the sports hall and post primary school. It was essential to use systems that were compatible with each building. So, I recommended the installation of Kingspan Solar’s awarding-winning Thermomax solar thermal vacuum tubes on the sports hall building, which are perfectly placed to meet the minimum Part L requirements, supplying up to 70% of users’ annual hot water needs. This makes Thermomax the perfect renewable energy source for innovative developments, such as Piper’s Hill.

“For the main college building, we decided to back feed electricity rather than generate hot water, which would not be used throughout the summer months. So we advised the client to install Kingspan Solar’s Solamax PV panels. They are designed to generate ‘green’ electricity through photovoltaic characteristics and feedback unused electricity into the grid.”

Gerd concludes: “The Kingspan Solar Thermomax range comes with a five year warranty and when installed via a Kingspan Solar Accredited Installer, this warranty is doubled to ten years. Plus all the workmanship is guaranteed for a 12 month period. So, Piper’s Hill is assured of a minimum decade of superb results.”

Principal of the new college, Mr. Colm O’Connor, comments: “We are extremely impressed with the end result, from initial queries through to installation and completion, the process has been seamless. It only took a couple of days to install each system plus a day for commissioning.

“Although the new systems have just been installed, we are already reaping the cost benefits, which will add up to hundreds of euro in savings annually. Plus to meet the ‘educational’ requirement of the installation, we have a display unit in the entrance hall of the school where all of our students can now see how much electricity is being generated by the PV system and how much C02 has been saved.

“It is a real talking point with the students and staff, and by having the two types of systems installed the pupils will be able to assess the advantages of both.”

Sean Ashe, CEO of Kildare VEC concludes: “Piper’s Hill Community College is a true flagship example of how easy it is to introduce eco-technology into everyday life. The college is experiencing substantial environmental and cost advantages from its recent solar installation and we would encourage more people and businesses to consider a greener future. The need to reduce our own carbon footprint has never been more prevalent, so we are glad that Piper’s Hill is leading by example.”

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