Our Ecocentre
The CPR Learning Space has 5 main environmentally friendly features:
Our building uses the latest technology. All aspects of the building's construction are environmentally sustainable.
Our energy systems rely on renewable sources - the sun, water and the ground
Grey Water
light kills bugs, so the water is good enough to drink
We only use the ‘grey water’ to flush our toilets. By compressing this 'warmed' refrigerant, more heat is generated so the water output from the heat pump is
typically 40ºC for heating our building. During a drought the system uses mains water.
Ground source heating
The average ground temperature just under the fields is between 8ºC and 13ºC and stays constant all year.
Our pump circulates water through 2.5 km of slinky coiled pipes buried horizontally 2 metres under the field. The water temperature in the pipes is lower than the surrounding ground so it warms up slightly.
This low grade heat is transferred to a heat pump, where it is used to heat up a refrigerant liquid.
By compressing this 'warmed' refrigerant, more heat is generated so the water output from the heat pump is typically 40ºC for heating our building.
The whole system can be put into reverse to cool our building.
Solar heated hot water
On our roof are black glass tubes filled with mains water that is heated by the sun.
Sometimes the water is heated to over boiling point. To avoid burning us, excess hot water is pumped into a dump radiator, keeping a constant temperature.
Hot water is stored in this tank until it is needed. It is a pleasant 55 degrees C.
Our hot tap water is heated by the sun, but if the weather is overcast, we have an electric emersion heater.
Photo voltaic cells
On our roof are 2- photo voltaic cells that turn the sun’s energy into electricity.
The control panel for the photo voltaics tells us how much electricity is being generated now, today and in total.
When we use more power than we generate, we import electricity from the national grid. When we generate more power than we need, we sell it back to the grid. We buy for 4.5p & sell at 7p per unit.
Our computer servers use electricity. How many different uses of electricity can you think of.
Sustainable materials
Our building has a wooden frame from trees cut down from sustainable woodlands. The outside of our dome is clad in Cedar, cut from a forest where 2 trees are planted for every 1 cut down .
Copper is a recyclable metal. It can be reused when it is not needed in our building. The dome is also clad in Copper.
Our walls look like normal walls. The X-change walls are built from compact recycled paper board backed with blown recycled newspapers that are rodent resistant and fireproof! The paint colours are all made from natural pigments and do not contain solvents, which can be toxic or harmful to human health.
The ceilings are blown rocks - vermiculite. Above the ceiling is recycled sheep’s wool insulating the rooms, keeping heat in or out.
High level windows throughout the building borrow light from one room to another, so that electrical lights can be switched off more often.