21 Jul 2008

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Construction has started on site at the “Weetabix School”, so coined because pupils bodies will provide heating post breakfast according to Gaia Architects.

This is achieved through a high standard of energy insulation in what is conceived as a forerunner in sustainable building.  

Architect Howard Liddell explains “The timber is very good at dealing with indoor moisture passively. In other words, you don’t need a ventilation system when you’ve actually got a material that’s dealing with the moisture. We hardly need any heating at all. We started out, in fact, calling it our Weetabix school, because the kids eat their breakfast and they’re warm enough to heat the room. Every kid is 100 watts, so 20 kids is two kilowatts - and that’s enough to heat a classroom that’s got nearly half a metre of insulation in the walls.”."

The timber superstructure is being assembled in Austria as although Britain possesses the right form of timber, we lack the capability to process it.   It is hoped however to aquire this capability in future such that local people may directly benefit.

The school is located within the remote Highland community of Acharacle on the Ardnamurchan peninsula.

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