A HI-TECH college building has achieved the coveted net zero standard allowing more resources to be spent on learning rather than running costs.
The purpose-built £3m Ingenium Centre opened this year at Darlington College to immerse the next generation of workers in the latest technology. Featuring the very latest in sustainable technology it is successfully reducing costs, carbon and energy usage.
Carefully designed, heavily insulated and heated by electrically operated air-source heat pumps, the centre is now being powered by photoelectric solar panels which provide 19 times more electricity than is needed.
Thanks to a £536,000 Government grant, surplus power from 1,000 roof panels is now also helping supply the rest of the college’s energy needs.
For more than ten years the college has been working with experts at North East-based Zeco Energy to maximise savings and carbon reduction.
Head of estates and site services at Darlington College James Butterfield said: “The college opened in 2006 before energy costs were such a major issue. There is so much scope to make some significant changes to save on energy costs which have quadrupled in recent times.
“Zeco has helped us roll out a range of energy and carbon saving measures including the design of our net zero operated building and LED lighting programme and has also been monitoring the Ingenium Centre since it opened in March. I’m delighted that the latest data shows it to be net zero operated. We are starting to reap the benefits of our investments.
“In addition to our first net zero operated building, the solar panels are now providing the college with 27 per cent of its energy needs and saving 250 tonnes of carbon a year. This means we are not having to divert money to pay for energy that we want to spend on improving teaching and learning.”
He said the college was the perfect site for solar. “We have no near neighbours and the various flat roofs are exposed to a lot of sunshine,” he said. “We assessed the whole campus and picked areas that will be the most efficient. We have also identified the next best sites should we secure more funding for extra panels.”
Zeco Energy director Jon Kent, a former Darlington College student, said the company had started working with the college in 2011 to help it understand when and where energy was being used. The aim was to move away from any reliance on imported gas to greener electricity.
“Because the Ingenium Centre is heavily insulated the size of the heating source is much reduced,” he said. “Using air source heat pumps for heating, combined with a heavily insulated building, means it is three times more efficient than gas. We also have more than 100 wireless IoT sensors in rooms so that the heating is on-demand. As rooms fill with students they gain heat from their bodies and the computers so the heating automatically reduces and it’s all off-grid.
“It is a really good system and I don’t know any other which can claim a net zero operated building. This is the most exciting time of my career. It is about designing buildings to retain the heat while allowing them to breathe and the building management system then controls the temperature of the centre down to each individual room.”
The Ingenium Centre is a key facility for the delivery of the new T-Level qualification. It incorporates cutting edge equipment, 360 degree imagery and virtual reality technology.
The centre comprises two large workshops, including one fitted with training rigs for electric vehicles, so students can start learning how to work on the latest technology. It sits alongside a robotics lab and virtual reality rooms incorporating new technology and is ranked among the best in the country.
T-Levels are a high quality alternative to A levels featuring intensive study, an occupational specialism, employer set projects and industrially relevant work placements that take place over a minimum of 45 days.
The culmination of four years’ work, the college’s new facilities were financed through Darlington Borough Council’s Town Fund and the Government’s Strategic Development Fund.
Work began in 2020 when the college was fitted with a new control system, solar panels and battery storage and an LED lighting roll out started as part of a green journey towards greater sustainability.
For more information and a virtual tour visit www.darlington.ac.uk.
