The document summarizes the design of a sustainable school building in China called the Happy Healthy School. The key features discussed are: 1) A greenhouse on the roof collects heat from the sun and helps regulate indoor temperatures. 2) Bamboo is used as a local, sustainable building material that can be composted after use. 3) Tall windows maximize natural daylighting to reduce energy use while exterior shades prevent overheating. 4) The design follows cradle-to-cradle principles to create a building that enhances user well-being without harming the environment.

1. HAPPY HEALTHY SCHOOL
Natural Warmth and Cold Sustainable materials Bringing the sun inside
The greenhouse on top of the building not only In order to achieve the highest level of sustainability, Daylight is not only healthy and nice, but it’s also
cleans the air, but it also collects a lot of warmth different materials were considered. Bamboo is an inexhaustible lightsource. That’s why the happy
from the sun. Inside it’s at least 5° warmer then
C a local material in China, so not much energy is healthy school has tall and wide windows, to catch
outside. In winter this warmth is very welcome to used for transportation. Also it’s one of the fastest as much light as possible. A happy, healthy and
bring the building on temperature. growing plants on earth; a great example of energy-efficient solution.
sustainable forestry.
The Bamboo is used in different ways. It’s used in
massive rods and pillars for construction, hollow
bricks that can be stacked into walls and raw
bamboo is used in the façade.
A big advantage of using bamboo is that no waste
is created. May the building once be deconstructed,
the bamboo can easily be composted and return to
the biological cycle, or be safely burnt for generating
new energy. Also the green concept gets more
readable from the building when using bamboo.
in summer, the greenhouse is covered by
sunshades to protect from overheating. In addition,
underground cooling tubes are used to cool down
the air, and dehumidify the humid summer air.
Sunlight has one disadvantage, on a sunny day it
can overheat rooms with much glass in the façade.
That’s why a system for blocking direct sunlight is
integrated in the façade. Horizontal planks keep the
direct sun from coming in, while as much indirect
sun in passed through, and also the view to the
outside is maintained.
Cradle to Cradle
The design of the Happy Healthy school has a lot
in common with the ‘cradle to cradle’-concept, a
method for sustainable design by Michael Braungart
Graduation project at:
and William McDonough.
The concept of the building can be summarized
as: ‘a building that gives more functionality and
happyness to the user, without using brutal force
In collaboration with: to do so’.
The building is built with local materials, which can
be reused or transformed into clean energy.
Building a Happy Healthy School in Shanghai or
any other big city brings a green plot to a concrete University of Applied Sciences Utrecht
Paul de Ruiter Architects DHV Consultancy & Engineering
Amsterdam/Beijing Worldwide/Shanghai
environment, in other words: It makes the city more Utrecht, the Netherlands
www.paulderuiter.nl www.dhv.com green. www.HU.nl
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