MODULAR GENZERO SCHOOL BUILDING MADE FROM HOMEGROWN TIMBER

Soprema’s R&D policy is strongly oriented towards sustainable development and sustainable partnerships. The GenZero school built by ECOsystems Technologies and utilising PAVATEX products, is a case in point. Part of the Manufacturing Technology Centre’s Sandpits innovation hub, the school building prototype demonstrates sustainable building techniques, the advantages of scalability, modularity and off-site construction. GENZERO SCHOOL BUILDINGS The Sandpits project answers the Department for Education’s call for GenZero schools. Establishing an ultra-low carbon building standard for schools is part of the UK government’s Net Zero Strategy, which should help the construction sector improve their reporting on embodied carbon in buildings and maximise embodied carbon levels for new buildings in the future. To meet the challenges of climate change and achieve greenhouse gas reductions, the Department for Education not only encourages new sustainable building techniques but also flexible options to build off-site and assemble on-site. STRONG COLLABORATIONS There are several Sandpits, and one of them is oriented towards Education. Soprema and ECOsystems made excellent use of this test bed facility for the construction industry provided by the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), building on a partnership that goes back many years. ECOsystems design, manufacture and install modular buildings for numerous sectors including the residential and education sector. Soprema has been their preferred material supplier for over a decade, and our insulation and waterproofing solutions have served as the external fabric for cross-laminated timber structures made by ECOsystems in countless projects throughout the UK. Other parties have also been involved in the design and delivery of the modular school building prototype. The architectural design was done by Lyall, Bills & Young; while Smith and Wallwork undertook the structural design. ECOsystems were responsible for the design, manufacture and assembly part of the project, translating the architectural and structural design input into a system that could be manufactured off-site and delivered, fully finished, on-site, utilising Soprema products as the external wrap. PROTOTYPE CLASSROOM DEMONSTRATED AT COP26 The Sandpits project built on a previous prototype: a classroom unit designed and delivered by ECOsystems, and demonstrated at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, to much acclaim. The Sandpits project was a natural continuation of this project, bringing many of the same stakeholders on board again, from the Department for Education to the MTC. SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS A part of the UK government’s GenZero initiative to establish a zero-carbon build system for schools, our prototype was made with sustainable materials ranging from homegrown timber to PAVATEX wood fibre insulation. 1. HOMEGROWN TIMBER BY ECOSYSTEMS Pioneering homegrown mass timber products for many years now, ECOsystems are the only manufacturer of homegrown cross laminated, glue laminated and nail laminated timber products in the world. Working with sustainably sourced timber from the UK, ECOsystems Technologies provide inclusive, environmentally aware, and uniquely different solutions. Through their innovative, climate-friendly building techniques, they maximise the use of local, sustainable materials. ECOsystems Technologies founder Matt Stevenson: “The Sandpits project allowed us another important opportunity to showcase a project with homegrown mass timber, which has a significantly lower carbon footprint than traditional building materials such as steel and concrete. 2. WOOD FIBRE AND XPS BY SOPREMA Regarding Soprema’s long-term collaboration with ECOsystems Technologies, Matt adds: “The Sandpits prototype builds on a strong strategic relationship that allows us to offer systems rather than products, which is a far richer and stronger proposition. Soprema have a wide portfolio of products available, and they have new systems coming to the market that are increasingly sustainable.” One of the main sustainable solutions used for the modular GenZero school building was PAVAROOF. This thermal insulation system combines cork and wood, and consists of, among other elements: SOPRAVAP HYGRO, a vapour control and airtight membrane with variable water vapour diffusion resistance and high resistance to tearing FLAGON waterproofing membrane, which has A+ BREEAM Green Guide rating. MODULAR SCHOOL BUILDING The Sandpits school building prototype measures about 70 square metres, with a 10-metre clear span roof – a shortened version of a system designed for an 18-metre clear span. Stevenson: “We looked at the minimum size we had to deliver. With a 10-metre roof, we were able to demonstrate all the technical solutions.” The resulting proof of concept is scalable: it is one component within a block of components that can be up to four storeys high, and that can be expanded to become a thousand-pupil school. In other words, the unit demonstrates platform design principles – it is a replicable system; a set of solutions that easily can be scaled up or down to respond to different project and site requirements. The flexibility of the system is an enormous advantage, as is the fact that design and construction never have to start from zero for a new project: the entry point is a platform that has been established and delivered before. THE ADVANTAGES OF ASSEMBLING RATHER THAN BUILDING The initial classroom prototype has been moved several times since it was introduced to the world at the COP26 summit in 2021. It proved easy to assemble, disassemble and reassemble or reconfigure – and the Sandpits project has been tackled in the same vein. That unit, too, can be disassembled and reassembled. It shows that 90% of the build can be achieved off-site so that, when delivering on site, an assembly rather than a building process takes place. Off-site construction allows for small-scale trial and testing, so any technical challenges for manufacture and delivery can be overcome in advance. It significantly de-risks future rollout: because we understand the manufacturing and install process very well, we can provide consistent quality and cost certainty, and build upon the efficiencies from prior projects. EXPANDING THE GENZERO CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE Meanwhile, there are interesting retrofit projects in the works that look to the platform approach to detect common features, starting from shared characteristics with new build solutions. SCOLA, for instance, is taking the GenZero construction technique and adapting it to a school building refurbishment project. Furthermore, ECOsystems Technologies is applying a lot of the design principles from the Sandpits project to a two-storey GenZero building for primary schools.

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