You are in > Home > News & Events > News > Ayr’s Riverside Campus is a ‘Living Laboratory’

Ayr’s Riverside Campus is a ‘Living Laboratory’

SAC News Release Ref. No: 11N100
Published: 16 Aug 2011

SAC’s (Scottish Agricultural College) new Riverside Campus in Ayr provides a ‘living laboratory’ for students on two of its most innovative courses.

Sustainable Building Technology and Green Technology are concerned with sustainable development. When considering the impact of buildings on the environment, students learn about technologies such as biomass heating, natural ventilation, passive solar gain, renewable heat and power and sustainable urban drainage systems.

Many of these technologies are built into the new £70 million campus development, making it one the UK’s most environmentally friendly Higher Education facilities. Students will therefore take advantage of the building itself as they learn. 

SAC Lecturer Gary Tierney said: “The Riverside Campus is an excellent example of best practice when it comes to modern, sustainable buildings. Our Sustainable Building Technology and Green Technology students will therefore be able to connect the curriculum to their built environment every day.

“For example, it might not be unusual for students to leave their purpose-built teaching rooms to attend a tutorial in, say, the boiler house, where two of the four boilers are fuelled by vegetable oil instead of gas. Or they might attend a class in the central atrium to learn about passive solar gain. Seeing technologies in action really helps students’ understanding and makes for a much more vibrant learning experience.”

SAC Learning’s staff recently moved into the new 18000 sq. metre campus building, which is shared with the University of the West of Scotland. Students will arrive at the end of September.

Places are still available on the Sustainable Building Technology and Green Technology courses. For more information, visit our Learning webpages.

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus

News Release Issued By

Ms Jane Smernicki
Head of Communications
SAC (Scottish Agricultural College) Work SAC, West Mains Road,
Edinburgh
EH9 3JG
TelWork 0131 535 4331

Add to Address Book | Help