Building Performance

View looking from middle to upper school, showing different roof types

Shenton College has only been occupied since February 2001, therefore sufficient time has not elapsed for energy performance to be assessed. Extrapolating from the post-occupancy studies of other institutional buildings, Shenton may, initially, not operate at optimal energy efficiency. Like many other WA schools, its passive cooling and ventilation system requires some user involvement, mostly by teachers. In some schools this has been resisted on the basis of building operation not being part of the 'job definition' (a different perspective could view this as a situated learning opportunity in environmental responsibility, thus worthy of foregrounding).

Another problem that can occur is when dampers for roof ventilators are not visible and are controlled by an electronic switch (rather than a lever), creating a situation of people being 'out of touch' with a crucial determinant of their building's thermal comfort (e.g.. you flick the switch to 'closed', but get no feedback, and if comfort conditions do not immediately change you might assume the mechanism is not working). With Shenton's ventilation and its night cooling system being a mixture of automatic and user-operated controls, repeated instruction to staff, beyond the hand-over briefing may be required. It's not as if the controls and the principles upon which they are based are complex. What makes the difference in such situations is whether a culture of environmental sustainment exists within the school community. A spirit of willingness can easily overcome glitches.