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Zin Elementary School

Medreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel, 2010, 2080 sqm
Ramat Hanegev Regional Council
Donor: Andre and Katherine Merage
Architecture: Levin Architects
RecoD Consulting: Climatic and Sustainable Design
First Place in Competition,  the 3rd International Conference for Green Building, 2012

Description

The Zin Elementary School, named after Andre and Katherine Merage, which is located at the Ben-Gurion educational campus, was chosen by the Israeli Ministry of Education to be planned as one of 6 green schools in honor of 60 years of Israel’s independence. Therefore it was planned to accommodate the local desert climate. The design employed several climatic strategies, such as passive cooling of the building mass through summer night ventilation, and winter passive heating through southern windows. In addition, a special emphasis was given to providing quality daylight, to ensure quality daylight, which alongside significant energy conservation considerably improves the pupils performance, mood, and health.

In order to establish quality daylight, classroom windows were oriented to the south and to the north, the southern windows included upper windows and light shelves, Roof Monitors were designed to enable better daylight in the classroom depth, and in the window interior, shading systems were installed to prevent glare from low winter sun angles. To take advantage of the daylight and to improve energy efficiency, efficient lights were installed. These were divided into electrical circuits according to zones of daylight availability, and were controlled by light and occupancy sensors.

Beside the main windows, in all classrooms additional (upper and side) windows were designed to provide cross natural ventilation. Such ventilation provides fresh air, helps in releasing hot air (naturally produced by the pupils), and improve thermal comfort in spring and fall. In addition to the mechanical systems of cooling and heating, additional systems of forced ventilation were installed to comply with the requirement for fresh air and to cool the building mass (interior walls and floors) through night ventilation during summer. The building envelope consists of interior thermal mass and exterior insulation to improve the efficiency of cooling. Passive heating of the classrooms and halls was established through Sothern windows.

The design process included climatic and sustainability consulting from the early stages of design, and the use of climatic simulations to support design decisions in these early stages. The design process included practical-research (which is applied research carried out in practice, enabling better climatic performance); and in the framework of post occupancy evaluation, illuminance measurements and luminance photography were carried out.

Climatic Analysis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Post Occupancy Evaluation

 

 

 

 

 

Photographs of the School

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Relevant Publications

Kaftan, Eran. 2012. Practical Research Supporting Climatic and Sustainable Design in ZinSchool. Conference Presentation. The 4^th International Conference on Drylands, Deserts and Desertification (DDD 2012). Ben-Gurion University, Israel.

Kaftan, Eran & Levin Avinoam. 2012. First Place in Competition, in a Medium-size Buildings Category. In the 3rd International Conference for Green Building, Israel (managed by Bait Venoy).

Kaftan, Eran & Levin Avinoam. 2011. ZinSchool. Urban Space Exhibition. The Israeli Association of United Architects.

Dori, Yael. 2011. On Green Buildings in Israeli Educational Institutes.  Landscape Architecture Magazine. The Israeli Association of Landscape Architects. p.27-28.

Maor, Avital. 2012. Architecture Ecology and Theology. Bait Venoy Magazine, 127. p.148.