TOWERS OF POWER WILL KEEP PUPILS CHILLED OUT
Refreshing idea for 23 traditional ventilators at award-winning green school augments long-term plan
Not content with being one of the most sustainable in Abu Dhabi, a Bangladeshi school is now aiming to be one of the coolest, with traditional wind towers to keep its pupils comfortable as they study.
The 23 towers, which will be supplemented with environmentally friendly technology, make up one of the many projects at Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Bangladesh Islamia School.
The only school in the UAE to win a Sheikh Zayed Future Energy Prize, it has also opened a plant conservatory powered by a high-tech climate simulation system supplied by Global Mission and Sanyo Techno Solutions Tottori.
“They said it could simulate any climate, even the climate of Alaska,” said Anita Saul, the school’s sustainable initiatives co-ordinator. “That is their ambition.”
Officials gathered at the school on Monday to open the greenhouse, which for now is sparsely planted with fruit trees and vegetables.
Blue and red LED lights have been installed to promote plant growth, but the real work will begin in September when the children return to school, principal Mir Anisul Hasan said.
“It will give our students a huge opportunity to be involved in advanced-level projects and interact with experts from all over the world,” Mr Hasan said.
“Students will learn how to take care of endangered species. At the same time, they will know a lot about growing plants in different seasons with the help of this conservatory.”
The wind tower project is being developed with prize money the school won through its sustainability work, and with financial and technical investment from the University of Leeds in the UK.
Construction of the towers is due to resume in September.
“The technology is based on traditional Arab architecture, like that of the burjeel, so it is of interest to local architecture also,” Ms Saul said.
“It is highlighting the culture and heritage of the UAE. That is why we are proud of that project. With its natural ventilation it reduces the workload of the air conditioning, it brings in fresh air and we are adding some new technology as well.”
While a traditional wind tower can help cool temperatures to 24°C, Ms Saul said other technology using water will be installed in the towers to make the room temperatures cooler still. It will be a “huge milestone”, she said. “We are expecting to be the first passively cooled school in the Middle East.”
The school opened in 1980 and moved home thanks to a land donation by Sheikh Zayed, Father of the Nation.
President Sheikh Khalifa provided the funds for the school buildings.
The school’s recent accolades – most notably the Zayed Future Energy Prize’s Global High Schools award in 2013 and prizes from the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi – have been a fitting tribute to the memory of Sheikh Zayed, said board member Dr Habibul Khondker.
“He was an environmental leader when the world was not yet thinking about the environment,” Dr Khondker said. “He was an ecological leader when the world was not even using the word ‘ecology’.
“So he actually planted this much-needed ecological and environmental consciousness in this country.”
The school saves energy from the 48 solar panels it installed on its roof as part of its sustainable schools initiative in 2013.
Officials said the panels produce about 30 per cent of the building’s electricity, mainly powering lights, computers and fans.
Muna Ali, outreach coordinator for the environmental agency, which runs the Sustainable Schools Initiative to promote conservation in education, said Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Bangladesh Islamia was to be praised for its leadership.
“The Bangladesh school is one of the best in our initiative,” Ms Ali said.
“We want others to be like the Bangladesh school.
“It is a real example for schools to transfer awareness and doing all the campaigns for real action towards sustainability.”