The hallways that lead from the classrooms and workshops gradually open up and broaden to become ‘extensions of the classrooms’ themselves with individual and group working spaces. These provide the students, teachers and parents with informal meeting points for gathering, planning extracurricular activities, and exchanging information. These ‘learning landscapes’ essentially strengthen the pedagogical work within the new building. © David MatthiessenAn individual climate and comfort concept has been developed for the school that accounts for the siting and orientation of the building. It was the goal to achieve visual, thermal and air quality with optimized energy consumption weighing up the investment costs and the costs of operation, with the use of regenerative resource and minimal input of technical appliances. PlanThe most efficient system in terms of energy and economic resources is the combination of a heat pump and a gas-fueled boiler. To meet the base load demand for heating and cooling, the heat pump is used over the thermally-activated reinforced steel concrete slabs. The peak load demand is met by the gas-fueled boiler. A field of geothermal probes beneath the schoolyard obtains the energy for the heat pump and covers 85% of the building’s heating load. technically optimized structure that establishes a warm colorful and inviting interior for learning one that reacts to and reinforces the qualities of the School's pedagogical vision You'll now receive updates based on what you follow Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors If you have done all of this and still can't find the email ‘ergolding secondary school’ features a large open atrium as its focal point providing an instant visual connection among the institution’s various departments in addition to serving as an assembly hall this color-coded central hub allows students to intuitively find their way around the building the school features a large open atrium at the heart of its design all images courtesy of behnisch architekten each area of the project has been designed to be as flexible as possible with circulation spaces becoming extensions of the learning environment as well as offering informal meeting points for both students and teachers these zones provide places for both individual and collaborative study flexible classrooms can be divided into smaller work areas science labs feature a partition wall enabling the room to be divided into smaller work spaces while teachers’ work rooms are placed between the individual lecture rooms and laboratories these versatile classrooms have been designed to accommodate the needs of a modern educational environment cafeteria and break out areas can be found large quantities of natural daylight enhance occupants’ comfort and well-being the scheme also has a strong commitment to environmental sustainability with a ground source heat-pump meeting 85% of the building’s heating demands an air conditioning system provides high quality air throughout the day while classrooms oriented north channel daylight from southern areas of the school through the implementation of light-directing solutions LED lighting is used throughout the design saving up to 70% of energy when compared to more conventional systems circulation spaces become extensions of the classrooms circulation spaces serve as informal meeting points for students and teachers a ground source heat-pump beneath the playground meets 85% of the building’s heating demands saving up to 70% of energy when compared to conventional lighting systems site plan showing the green areas of the scheme floor plan indicating the layout of the new building germany client: district of landshut completed: 2013 area: 12,500 sqm (135,000 sqf) volume: 55,000 sqm (1,940,000 sqf) AXOR presents three bathroom concepts that are not merely places of function but destinations in themselves — sanctuaries of style There was a time when Boiling Springs High School's Ethan Watkins wasn't exactly comfortable standing out thanks in part to a 17-day trip with his classmates to Germany's Bavaria region as part of a cultural exchange program yeah it was a scary thing for me," Watkins said "I've grown up in this kind of sheltered life but the trip made us put ourselves out there Watkins even showed up for school on Thursday wearing German lederhosen short leather pants traditionally worn in German-speaking areas It's a look far different than those normally seen in Upstate high school hallways "There's no way I would have done this before our trip," Watkins said Watkins joined some 20 classmates for an overseas expedition to Ergolding and Landshut in the heart of Bavaria He said the country's hills and rolling rural grasslands are a stark contrast to his native Boiling Springs as a BMW plant in nearby Dingolfing is a prime source of work for the people in the region Boiling Springs High School German teacher Heike Wrenn said the trip was organized through the German American Partnership Program an exchange that's meant to foster interest and understanding between the people of both nations some 375,000 students have traveled between the two countries lived with host families and experienced what high school is like with an international flavor Boiling Springs High School hosted 19 students from Ergolding said his main goal in traveling overseas was to sample Walsh and Watkins both said their goal also ended up shifting toward changing perceptions of the average American in the eyes of the people they met "They were so gracious and very warm to us," Walsh said "I think some had this idea that Americans were loud We honestly went out of our way to make sure we were always asking them questions making sure they understood that we were listening to them an all-night party included a traditional steinholding feat of strength Contestants hold a glass liter beer stein (in this case filled with water) parallel to the ground Walsh said Watkins was the last man standing And Walsh has determined German food now holds the clear edge over American fare "There is no comparison between an actual pretzel we had over there and what we have here," Walsh said "I'll never eat another American pretzel." For Boiling Springs High School's World Language Department Chairwoman Monika Harris the trip offered students a crash course in world travel (Wrenn and Harris) were two hens with a lot of little chickadees running right at our feet," Harris said "And by the end we had to give them deadlines on where they needed to be and when because they'd scattered everywhere and were experiencing this in their own way there's no amount of schooling that can replace that." Wrenn said the next class of German students will likely be hosted by Boiling Springs families in the fall of 2020 with Boiling Springs High School students next heading overseas in the spring of 2021 "We had a fairly difficult time lining up local host families last year for German students," Harris said "But I don't think we'll have that much trouble the next time around." SPIE is the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications Our 55,000 employees are committed to achieving the energy transition and responsible digital transformation alongside our customers SPIE aims to contribute to a more sustainable Do you want to use your skills to contribute to projects that help society a key player in the energy transition and digital transformation We are committed to the fight against climate change and mobilised for a responsible digital transformation intall and maintain energy-efficient and environmentaly-friendly facilities Find in this section all the useful information you can access SPIE's profile and key figures Would you like to interview an SPIE spokesperson the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications is renewing and expanding the Altheim transformer station on behalf of the transmission network operator TenneT As an important part of the electricity supply infrastructure in Bavaria it was designed to ensure future-proof operation with a voltage level of 380-kV the project started in March 2015 and has since been successfully completed The existing transformer station had to be retrofitted to improve its efficiency and meet the requirements for the upcoming North-South power transmission line SPIE modernized the transformer station during ongoing operations to ensure an uninterrupted power supply and to avoid affecting households and companies connected to the power network this contract was very ambitious” says Karl Olwitz project manager at SPIE and responsible of the contract’s implementation the multi-technical service provider was responsible of the entire realisation of the project for five years from planning to the supply of materials and installation of the 380 kV substation “In order to increase the efficiency of the transformer station the existing 220-kV plant was dismantled in sections provisional arrangements ensuring continuity of service” The transformer station was then rebuilt in stages built and installed four 380-kV conduction fields two 380-kV transformer fields and three 110-kV transformer fields a 380-kV current compensation coil and more than 18 fields of a triple bus rail the multi-technical service provider installed a complete set of protection control and communications technologies on site erected the new factory building and eleven control cells and equipped the entire plant with new exterior lighting “The reconstruction of such a large transformer station requires precise planning and careful coordination of the various trades The plant in Altheim is regarded as an important power grid node in the European integrated grid system and acts as an important interface for electricity supplies between Thuringia Eastern Bavaria and across greater Munich to Austria” site manager of the Schaltanlagenbau Ergolding unit TenneT and SPIE have been successfully cooperating for many years As a product and manufacturer-neutral service provider SPIE stands for service provided by one source and operational excellence SPIE has developed into a reliable partner for the power grid operator providing it with solutions to implement the energy transition The good cooperation between the two firms reflects in the many successful projects they led together in the past “We are very proud that TenneT has once again placed their trust in us to carry this contract It was a particular challenge for SPIE to assume the tasks of a general contractor” construction manager at SPIE and responsible for operational sequences on site “Thanks to the high quality of our execution a reliable adherence to schedules and high occupational safety standards we were also once again able to make a convincing offer for this EU tender.”