School renovation

Kids are in school to learn, play and grow. Providing a healthy environment that benefits learning is vital to ensuring this development.

Why renovation is great for society

Pupils At A School Raising Hands To Answer Question

Kids are in school to learn, play and grow. Providing a healthy environment that benefits learning is vital to ensuring this development. Many schools are older buildings that are in need of renovation, and face challenges that include managing noise levels, improving indoor air quality, and providing for a comfortable environment over different seasons.

Renovating the learning environments in society is the responsibility of administrators and policymakers. Investing in the health and wellness of future generations starts with providing improved learning spaces for today’s students. This is possible using modern technologies like stone wool insulation during a renovation project to increase resilience and sustainability.

Table of content

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Relevant applications

Insulation

Acoustic Insulation

Acoustic insulation protects building occupants from noise pollution and boosts comfort and privacy.

Insulation

External Wall Insulation

External walls are key for combatting heat loss in buildings.

Insulation

Internal Wall Insulation

Internal wall insulation reduces heating bills and boosts indoor comfort.

Insulation

Roof Insulation

We supply an array of roof insulation products for any type of build, increasing energy efficiency.

Key focus areas to include when renovating schools

The majority of students are still in the developmental stage while spending a large portion of their time at a school, college or university. Improving the indoor environment of students should be a priority to ensure healthy and comfortable learning environments. Here are three specific considerations for renovating schools.

Addressing concerns about noise pollution

Noise has direct impacts on our health. The human ear is always tuning in to different sounds and any elevated levels will penetrate the consciousness of a student. In schools, poor acoustics can cause:

Reduced academic performance - Elevated ambient sounds generated by indoor support systems (i.e. HVAC), other student activities, and outdoor noise pollution.
Lower test results - An increase of 10dB in ambient noise levels can reduce math and language scores by as much as 5.5 points on average as noticed in one study on French students.
Reduced speech intelligibility and retention - In schools with no sound absorption, up to 70 percent of the consonants spoken by teachers cannot be heard by pupils.
Long-term health effects - Excessive noise levels can create stress, sleep disturbance, higher blood pressure, and hearing loss.

It is estimated that better acoustics in schools can improve the educational performance of children by 3-6 percent. For academic institutions, renovating to improve acoustics can help their students to increase concentration levels, improve their long-term health, and ensure speech comprehension in every classroom.

Improving the indoor comfort for students

Better insulation can help schools and academic institutions manage the indoor climate effectively. By renovating to maintain the indoor comfort levels in schools, administrators and faculty will notice an improvement in their students’ performance.

A one degree change in temperature can reduce academic performance by 0.2 percent. While colder environments tend to improve concentration, once it exceeds a comfortable level, it will create a negative effect on student performance.

Some of the performance issues include:

Reduced attendance from students who develop symptoms affecting their health.
Limited attention spans of students who receive their education in cold or hot environments.
Increased risk of long-term health implications due to mould and damp caused by the combination of poor temperature control and humidity.

It is estimated that optimising students’ indoor comfort could improve academic performance by up to 8 percent. This involves maintaining a stable, comfortable temperature and humidity within classrooms and common areas. Using stone wool insulation to improve indoor climates can help schools create environments conducive to learning. Renovating schools to achieve a healthy indoor environment will ensure today’s students are healthy and can contribute to society going forward, making it a sustainable initiative that invests in future generations.

Maximising the use of natural light

Daylighting is a new approach to improving the health and wellbeing of people who spend the majority of their day indoors. The concept is based around maximising natural sunlight through the placement of windows and the use of reflective surfaces. Students especially need solutions that maximise their exposure to natural light while remaining inside a building for extended periods.

Natural light can help students by:

Improving their alertness and concentration levels.
Receiving natural light during the day will help students sleep better at night.
Providing a better educational experience, which raises moods and helps with attendance levels.

Rockfon ceiling tiles and panels reflect up to 86% of available light dispersing sunlight more easily. Not only does this help increase natural lighting, it also helps diffuse light more effectively and limits glare.

Using the reflective properties, Rockfon ceiling tiles can enable schools to maximise the use of natural light in their environments. When choosing what solutions to use for a school renovation project, stone wool materials provide superior performance and long-term sustainability.

Benefits available from school renovation projects

Fire safety

Every child has the right to feel safe at school – and this includes feeling safe from potential fires. In the UK alone, it is estimated that the education of 90,000 children is disrupted by school fires each year, with one in eight schools suffering a serious arson attack and 75 per cent of school fires being caused maliciously. Not only do these fires put the safety of the students at risk, the resulting damage can affect exam results, mean temporary accommodation is needed – and no insurance can replace lost school work and lost school days.

Stone wool insulation is a key component to helping school become fire-resilient, as the stone wool fibres are inherently non-combustible and can resist temperatures above 1,000º C. This is crucial to containing a fire locally and securing that a fire in a building will not become a building on fire. And with minimal organic content, ROCKWOOL insulation will not produce any significant toxic smoke.

For schools and educational institutions, the safety and long-term health of students is a primary concern. Renovation projects that improve the climate and acoustics of a school building provide greater benefits to society as a whole.

Additional benefits from school building renovations include:

Increased academic performance from students within a comfortable environment.
Reduced operational costs by using thermal and energy-efficient solutions.
Decreased rate of distraction, greater information retention, and limiting the long-term health effects of noise pollution.
Schools can also reduce their emissions and energy consumption, helping them to reduce their impact on the environment and operating costs at the same time.

Learn the benefits of renovation

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How to renovate a school

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Eight solutions for renovating a school

1. Acoustic baffles

Acoustic baffles are especially well-suited for large open areas. They help break up the sound by reducing sound reverberation and improving the acoustical environment. This means children and staff can enjoy canteens, aulas and other communal areas without noise levels becoming overwhelming.

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2. Internal wall insulation

Installing sound absorbing materials such as stone wool insulation in the walls separating classrooms from each other, or classrooms from communal areas, will help keep one class’ activities from disturbing the others. This allows for a higher degree of blended learning within schools, which can both improve the learning and health of students.

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3. Ceiling tiles

Inside classrooms or auditoriums, acoustic ceiling tiles are the perfects solution for providing a comfortable acoustic environment where noise is reduced but the teacher’s words can still be heard by all the students. By using Rockfon products, these can be installed in a suspended grid system or directly on the ceiling as needed.

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4. External wall insulation

Especially for schools located in cities, outside noise pollution can be a real problem. Busy streets and city life create noise that can be disturbing or distracting for students. Additionally, separating the noise from outside activities like sports or playing from areas of concentration plays an important part in allowing students to concentrate. Insulating external walls can help absorb this noise and provide a better learning environment.

In addition, insulating external walls has a significant potential for energy savings and reduced emissions. Being the largest surface area of the building, external walls are a prime place for heat transfer. Installing energy efficient insulation to prevent this heat transfer can lower energy cost and give the school building a greener profile.

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5. Acoustic wall panels

In place where the is a need for extra sound absorption or other solutions are impractical, acoustic wall panels can offer a great combination between decoration and enhanced acoustic performance. The easy-to-mount wall panels come in all shapes, sizes and colours allowing the development of lively and creative learning environments.

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6. Floor and ceiling insulation

In schools that consist of multiple stories, insulating between them is absolutely crucial. Without insulation in the floor structure, sound will travel between stories and even light footsteps can become annoying for those below. Using just 20 mm of stone wool insulation could reduce sound travelling through the floor by a factor eight!

Floor insulation Ceiling insulation

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7. Façade

Similar to the external wall insulation, a renovation of the façade offers a significant potential for energy savings and sound reduction. In addition, stone wool facades can help lower maintenance cost and act as a protecting shield the rest of the building. Our Rockpanel façade cladding can be made in any shape, size or colour, offering schools and universities complete design freedom for their façade.

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8. Roof insulation

Potentially offering the highest potential for energy savings, renovating the roof of a school or university might be the last solution on this list, but is definitely not the least important. Reducing the heat loss through the roof of a school building will help maintain a comfortable indoor temperature for students and help schools, universities and municipalities reduce both energy costs and emissions.

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Improving indoor climates and reducing operational costs with stone wool

As young people are driving the global wake-up call on climate change, it is fitting that schools and universities are actively reducing carbon emissions and promoting renewable energy. To empower today’s schools and universities, ROCKWOOL Group delivers innovative technologies that assist with improving indoor climates. Schools can lower their operating costs by using less direct energy, limit the effects of noise pollution, improve their indoor climate, and lead by example for the rest of the community.

Schools also have access to modern technologies suitable for creating passive barriers that improve fire safety. Investing in systems to be more energy-efficient and absorb noises during every school day will ensure students make the most of their educational experience. Supporting renovation schemes that enable students to perform better during their developmental years is also an effective way to invest in the future of society.

ROCKWOOL Group works with schools and educational institutions to improve long-term health, wellbeing, and overall academic performance. To find out how we can help you, contact ROCKWOOL Group today.