Ventilation for Public Buildings

Gentle footprints today will ensure a path for tomorrow – RoofWhirlys4Africa energy saving ventilation for public buildings

Concern about global warming has grown interest in naturally ventilated buildings to minimize the consumption of non-renewable energy. Natural ventilation is an effective solution to improve indoor air quality. Numerous studies have found it is possible to use natural ventilation to create a draught free, thermally comfortable indoor environment. 

Wind driven roof turbine ventilation improves health

Health Clinic in South Africa Photo: PATH/Wendy Stone

Good ventilation provides some incredibly important health benefits especially reducing the spread of airborne infections like TB.  Effective ventilation controls temperature, replenishes oxygen, and removes moisture, odours, heat, dust, airborne bacteria, and carbon dioxide.  Furthermore wind driven roof turbine ventilation is draught free and has proven to be more effective than windows.  (Click here to read about the study in health clinics in Khayelitsha).

Carbon savings

Case study projects have shown a saving of between 24% and 71% of carbon emissions compared to the industry benchmark figures for an average air conditioned building.

A further advantage of natural ventilation for public buildings is that it requires far less maintenance, when compared with conventional AHU (air handling unit) air conditioning.

A versatile solution

Most occupied buildings will benefit from the installation of RoofWhirlys4Africa whirly vent natural ventilation. Offices, schools, universities, health centres and council buildings can all make use of this type of a sustainable energy-efficient natural ventilation strategy.

The exciting benefit of a natural ventilation for public buildings solution is it can be successfully installed as part of a retrofit project, meaning that existing buildings can also  benefit.

Natural ventilation in schools

School classroom - credit Stanford University

Educational establishments can greatly benefit from the supply of fresh air; research from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory suggests that improving fresh air provision can reduce the rate of student absence due to illness by approximately 3.4%.

“After 12 months, Edge Hill University has reported favourable year-round temperatures in line with design-stage predictions – even with high occupancy” - Carbon Trust.

More about wind turbine ventilation

Click here to read more about wind turbine ventilation.

Roof vent sizes for ventilation for public buildings

If you have a large building the popular size is the 500mm roof vent.  This is the biggest size you can fit without cutting through both sides of the sheet which reduces the requirement for a stiffening frame or structure underneath.  This means the 500mm roof turbine ventilator is easier to fit then a roof vent with a larger throat.  The 500mm roof whirly vents move more air than a smaller roof vent therefore requiring fewer for the same extraction.    Our 240mm RoofWhirly4Africa roof turbine ventilation systems are ideal for your smaller buildings like health clinics.  The advantage of our 240mm roof vent is it fits very well on a tiled roof.  This 240mm roof turbine vent replaces a single tile on the roof whereas anything with a larger throat diameter requires a space that is bigger than one tile.  These smaller RoofWhirlys4Africa 240mm roof vents are available in silver, green and terracotta.

RoofWhirlys4Africa ventilation systems are durable, corrosion and dent proof

Our RoofWhirlys4Africa standard roof mounted wind turbine ventilators are corrosive and dent proof.  They are manufactured from a high quality durable plastic stabilised with UV and heat stabilisation to last at least 10 years in the African sun.  The plastic is slightly flexible with an excellent memory allowing the RoofWhirlys4Africa roof vent to bounce rather than dent.  These roof vents have an aluminium spindle and steel rivets and screws.  RoofWhirlys4Africa roof vents are completely covered by our comprehensive 5 year warranty (we include wear and tear in our guarantee).

Completely serviceable - spares are readily available and inexpensive

You will have seen bent and buckled metal or aluminium whirlybird type vents on buildings and school toilets.  A completely unique feature of all of our RoofWhirlys4Africa wind turbine ventilation systems is they are completely serviceable and spares are readily available and inexpensive.  Our customer-centric design means you do not have to completely replace your roof vent if it is damaged.

RoofWhirlys4Africa Toilet / Sewer vents

We also have a toilet / sewer range suitable for outside toilets, sewers and waterless toilet systems etc.  There are four models in the sewer / toilet vent range, two to fit a 110mm PVC pipe (325mm vane diameter, and 250mm vane diameter), a toilet / sewer vent to fit a 150mm PVC pipe and a toilet / sewer vent to fit a 240mm PVC pipe.

Theft proof

Our RoofWhirlys4Africa ventilation systems are plastic which means they have very little resale value (unlike the metal whirlybird type vents).  This significantly reduces the risk of theft.