VELE SECONDARY SCHOOL : LIMPOPO CONTEXT

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1 CONTEXT

2 TROPIC OF CAPRICORN VELE Vele Secondary School is located in the Soutpansberg Mountains of north east Limpopo CONTEXT

3 MAVHODE FEFE VELE 1 KM 2 KM 3 KM GOGOGO The rural villages of Gogogo, Fefe and Mavhode provide the learner catchments for Vele Secondary School CONTEXT

4 The school is sited on a north west facing slope and adjacent to a gravel district road SITE ANALYSIS

5 ORCHARD VIEWS AREA PREVIOUSLY OCCUPIED BY SCHOOL PRE 1990 S JUVENILE FOREST VIEWS EXISTING SCHOOL RIDGE COMMUNITY SPORTS FIELD WIND STREAM RAIN GOGOGO HOMESTEADS Prevailing winds and rain are from the east and views are towards the north and west SITE ANALYSIS

6 Kitchen Vele Secondary School before 2009 Vele Secondary School was started in By 2009, 460 learners between grades 8 and 12 were accommodated in eight dilapidated classrooms. Two additional classrooms were used for staff and administration functions. There were 6 girls and 6 boys pit toilets with no running water. The school had no specialist educational facilities, no library, no computers and science labs and rudimentary sports fields. The Teaching Tree Girls Toilets BEFORE

7 Learners Mapping Project Our first engagement with the learners at Vele was a physical and social mapping workshop. This was an opportunity to introduce ourselves, share some of our knowledge and in turn gain an understanding of the physical and social landscape surrounding the school. What we did: Introduce concepts of mapping and satellite imagery with particular reference to their school Issue all learners with satellite images of the school and surrounding regions and coloured pens and ask them to map their routes to school and to identify special sites in the landscape Outcomes: Understanding of the challenges many of them faced on their daily journeys to and from school (leopards, baboons and snakes!) Insights into local landscape & human geography INCLUSION: LEARNERS MAPPING PROJECT

8 Learners Photography We followed the mapping project with a photography workshop. We sourced donor funds for disposable cameras and ran a one day workshop with explanations of basic photographic principles (light, composition, etc) and instructions on the operation of the cameras. Photographs are returned to the learners What we did: Give disposable cameras to all learners & teachers Basic photography course and explanation of the project Printed all the photos and returned them to the photographers Outcomes: Insights into social & geographic context Understanding of building materials and skills and spatial arrangement of homesteads 5800 photographs for display, exhibition and fund raising Personal interaction with the learners - our primary clients! INCLUSION: LEARNERS PHOTOGRAPHY

9 Dance & music celebrate the start of construction Meetings with community leaders School tours during construction Embedded in Community To engender buy-in and ultimately ownership, the team employed structured engagement techniques. Workshops, visioning sessions, design and development review meetings, frequent tours of the building site during construction and post-occupancy induction engagements with teachers, learners and support staff. Another way in which the school takes root in the community, is for it to become an active participant in the local economy. This was achieved initially through a community skills and materials audit which was conducted before the building commenced. The building contractor was then bound to source skills from the immediate community before turning to sources further afield. Where practical on-site training was provided. Traditional Leaders visit the site Newsletters updating progress Vele boys dance & sing Design review discussion INCLUSION: TEACHERS, PARENTS & RESIDENTS

10 A 4 EXISTING CLASSROOMS (RETAINED) B 6 EXISTING CLASSROOMS (DEMOLISHED) C EXISTING GARDENS D HEADER TANK E KITCHEN F ROUGH NETBALL COURT G PIT LATRINES H DIRT FOOTBALL PITCH J TEACHING TREE FENCE G G F J H G C A B D E G ROAD 0 10m 20m 30m 40m 50m 100m CAMPUS LAYOUT: 2009

11 A INDIGENOUS GARDENS B 2 SCIENCE LABS C ADMIN, LIBRARY & COMPUTERS D TEACHER S ROOMS E PARKING F SECURITY & HEADER TANKS G FOOD GARDENS H COURTYARD J TEACHING TREE K 17 CLASSROOMS L MAIN ENTRANCE M TOILETS N COMMUNITY HALL P SPORTS FIELD R NETBALL COURTS S RAINWATER TANK FARM T AMPHITHEATRE U RESOURCE CENTRE A T K K FENCE S K H H B A P R R G M G U J E C D N U E F ROAD L 0 10m 20m 30m 40m 50m 100m CAMPUS LAYOUT: 2012

12 NORTH - SOUTH SECTION WEST ELEVATION EAST - WEST SECTION SECTIONS & ELEVATION

13 Classroom lighting strategy uses light shelves and dual switching Insulation board laid under roofs External shading devices on the north windows of the science labs Shading devices on west windows Passive Low Energy Design (PLED) Careful consideration is given to passive design techniques such as solar orientation, natural ventilation and lighting, as well as adequate insulation. These reduce the burden of increasing utility costs (more money for teaching & learning!) and provide healthier, comfortable learning environments. Weather station collects data Light shelves on the north elevations PLED Techniques Include: Optimal solar (north) orientation Insulation in floors, walls and roofs Natural ventilation techniques for winter & summer Natural daylighting using light shelves, roof lights and window placement Climatic data collected includes rainfall, temperature, wind & sunlight Roof lights in toilets PASSIVE LOW ENERGY DESIGN (PLED)

14 Science laboratories: all furniture is locally made Science labs with lock-up demonstration and equipment area Learners sit with their backs to the large north-facing windows Classrooms Classrooms are designed for maximum solar gain on the northern facade - external light shelves/shading devices shield spaces from direct sunlight, but reflect light deeper into the classrooms. The learners desks face the chalkboard on the southern walls thus reducing glare and shadows across the desktop. Lower angle winter sunlight shines on the learners back and heats the classrooms naturally. Classrooms with chalkboard on the south wall The walkways and smaller windows are on the south side of the classrooms. East and west gable walls are available for the display of projects and educational materials. Lockers are provide in classrooms for learners books and possessions. Classroom seating options CLASSROOMS

15 Renewable Energy A 50m² solar photovoltaic array provides electricity for the IT infrastructure and the borehole water pumping at the school. A donation from Eskom made this installation possible. It was made clear from the outset that the renewable energy sources are not free and that the inverters, batteries and panels require regular maintenance and periodic replacement. The valuable photovoltaic panels are securely fixed onto a north facing, second floor roof and for security reasons are not visible from the road. The school has been wired with a white and a red circuit, where the white plugs are connected to the Eskom grid and red plugs are connected to the renewable energy supply. Posters provide information and maintenance advice about the renewable energy system 50m² PV array on the roof of the double storey admin block Battery room with inverters and charge controller How it works: Batteries: store electricity for use during periods of little or no sunshine. Photovoltaic panels: convert sunlight into electricity Technical Details: PV panels: 32 x 200 watt (6.4kWpeak) solar panels (A-Grade) with 25 year performance guarantee Power electronics: Powerstar BI 6000VA / 48Volt/ modular bi-directional / grid interactive pure sine wave inverter Outback Flexmax 80-80A MPPT controller and battery charge regulator Batteries: 24 x C100 C5 / 2Volt tubular wet cell batteries Inverter: manage and convert the DC (direct current) electricity from the panels into 220V AC (alternating current) used by the school. Also controls battery charging. RENEWABLE ENERGY Electrical loads: 100 computers and the borehole pumps, use renewable energy from this system

16 Energy Monitoring You can t control what you can t measure. Tom De Marco An energy monitoring system has been installed to create an awareness about energy consumption and to help the school reduce electrical energy costs. The system works by: Creating an awareness of the importance of saving electricity. Informing everybody when and where electricity is used. With this information, the school can control and conserve electricity use. Showing how much this electricity costs the school, both in real terms and in comparison to previous months. The Energy Display Monitor is prominently displayed in the reception foyer, raising awareness of the costs of energy and the benefits of the school's renewable energy system How the System Works The school is divided into different zones. Electrical meters are then placed in each zone to gather information on the energy usage of this zone. This information is then sent to a computer, which displays the results on the Energy Display Monitor, and on an internal website. Detail of the Energy Display Monitor showing consumption in different zones Energy Monitoring Outcomes The system provides information to the school through the following media: Public display screen in foyer Weekly s to selected addresses, with summary of the past week's energy consumption Error alerts (like inverter being bypassed) and warnings (like batteries are not charging or borehole pumps operating at night ) via A local website that provides energy info to the school management team and to the learners for their projects The ability for the school to compare their actual Eskom bill with the amounts measured by the system Daily backup of all metering data to a ftp site, that can in future be used for an internet-based website An energy monitoring system can also be a powerful education tool, e.g. through learner projects, realtime display of energy consumption / energy use for each zone, or reward-based strategies like energy efficiency competitions. ENERGY MONITORING

17 Sanitation The school uses a waterless, on-site, dry sanitation system call Enviroloo. The system was chosen for the learners due to the erratic municipal water supply and the potential for contamination of soil and groundwater by waterborne sanitation systems. The Limpopo Department of Education provides a maintenance service for this system for rural schools throughout the province. All the toilet blocks are naturally ventilated and well lit. The school has a total of 10 boys toilets, 10 urinals and 15 girls toilets. There are 4 staff toilets using a waterborne flush system. SANITATION

18 Drinking fountain Water Strategy Rainwater is harvested off all available roof and hard surfaces at the classroom blocks and piped to a 100,000 litre tank farm. Powered by solar renewable energy the water is then pumped to 20,000 litre header tanks from where it is gravity fed to irrigate food gardens. Rainwater is harvested off the community hall and stored in tanks with a total capacity of 30,000 litres. This water is gravity fed to irrigate the sports fields. Elevated water tanks over the security gatehouse 100,000 litre rainwater tank farm Potable water is solar pumped from an on-site borehole to 10,000 litre elevated tanks from where it is gravity fed to kitchens, drinking fountains and wash basins. Irrigation for food gardens 30,000 litres of rainwater collected off the hall roof for the sportsfields WATER

19 MATERIALS

20 MATERIALS

21 Covered Walkways Green Roofs A selection of Vele buildings have been planted with green roofs to both preserve biodiversity and to impart other qualities such as good insulation, aesthetics and assist in the management of storm water runoff. The science laboratories, administration centre, ablutions and covered walkways all have green roofs. All green roof planting uses hardy, drought resistant, indigenous plants from the region requiring no watering and little maintenance. Science Block Ablutions GREEN ROOFS

22 CAMPUS VIEWS

23 CAMPUS VIEWS

24 Post-occupancy Programmes include: Informing and training the maintenance and support staff through a workshop and mentoring programme. Hand over a Building User Guide with guidelines for the operation and maintenance of the school infrastructure and detailed technical information of all systems. Erect posters throughout the school to provide continuously accessible information for the operation and maintenance of the school infrastructure. Develop a productive, sustainable food garden to provide healthy food for the school nutrition programme. Monitor and evaluate the school energy consumption patterns. Develop a model for energy efficiency at schools. Develop a bicycle transport programme for learners who live far from the school. Explore partnership opportunities with local and international businesses and educational institutions. Provide an academic professional development programme for educators at Vele and surrounding schools. Run a governance and financial skills development programme for the school management team. Work with local crafters and artists on the continued decoration of the school. Vele learners have become ambassadors for sustainability with help from a local tourism establishment Building structure and services exposed for educational benefit Donated bicycles A classroom poster explaining water management POST-OCCUPANCY

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