Søndersø School

Søndersø school in Værløse, Denmark first opened the doors to the public in 1973. In relation to a major retrofit of the school from 2007-2010, hybrid ventilation was installed in several class rooms and automated natural ventilation was installed in the large common areas.

The common areas all have access to fresh air through vertical windows in the façade near the roof and through skylights. All windows have automated window actuators installed for intelligent, control of the indoor climate.

The hybrid ventilation solution in the classrooms consists of automatically controlled windows in the façade and mechanical extraction fans, which is automatically activated once the natural forces (wind) don’t suffice.

The total area with hybrid- and natural ventilation amounts to 3,700 sqm.

The air change rate as well as the ventilation principles are based on local weather data and preferred levels of temperature and CO2 in the individual rooms.

In each room a control panel has been installed for manual override of the windows. This allows students and teachers to change the windows’ position if more or less fresh air is needed. After 30 minutes, the system switches back to automatic control mode.

The contractor says:

“Natural ventilation is very easy to implement in existing as well as new buildings. The design is simple and there is little work to be done once the system is up and running. The solution is also attractive from an environmental point of view, and there are few operation and maintenance costs. So, in cases where natural ventilation is suitable for the building, the ventilation solution is our first choice."

Skylights in the common areas are furthermore incorporated into the buildings heat & smoke strategy, where the automated windows are used for smoke ventilation.