Taking the heat out of the playground

Uk’s first interseasonal heat transfer system combines with Termodeck
When it opens in September, Howe Dell Primary school in Hatfield, Hertfordshire will be the first building in the UK to utilise an underground, interseasonal heat transfer system to store summer heat for winter use.

The ground-breaking system, which has been designed by Interseasonal Collection & Exchange (Icax) is located under the playground to capture heat during the summer months. The system will combine with TermoDeck, Tarmac’s energy-efficient heating, cooling and fresh air ventilation system to circulate the collected heat through hollowcore concrete slabs in order to heat the buildings during the winter.

In summer, the sun will warm a mixture of water and anti-freeze in pipes that have been laid beneath the playground and warm water will then be transferred from the collector to storage pipes laid beneath the school buildings. The warm water is circulated directly into the underfloor heating system or pumped to an air handling unit where it heats the passing air before being circulated through the TermoDeck system.

TermoDeck, which is an alternative to air conditioning and fresh air ventilation, works by exploiting the high thermal mass of structural, hollowcore concrete slabs to control and regulate internal temperatures.

Geoff Russell-Smith, general manager of Tarmac TermoDeck, said: “This is a very exciting school project, which demonstrates the flexibility of the TermoDeck to work in tandem with new technologies, including renewables, and help deliver long-term cost and environmental savings.”

4 December 2007