Groundbreaking eco-classroom uses wine bottles to insulate floor

An unusual insulating flooring base will go down next Wednesday [August 5] at the site of Hukanui Primary School’s groundbreaking eco-classroom, the Living Room.

Parents and supporters at the Hamilton school have collected and washed out 1,500 wine bottles, which will be used to create an insulating layer under part of the classroom’s concrete floor.

Past and present students have put messages in 600 of the bottles, and decorated others. The messages include environmental tips for people in the future and information about life at Hukanui School in 2009. The students say the bottles will form a ‘time capsule’ ready for when the Living Room itself ‘goes back to nature’.

A group of about 30 students who’ve chosen to focus on environmental issues this term will help lay the bottles on a base layer of sand. Another layer of sand will go on top of the bottles, and the whole area will be compacted before the concrete is laid. Other sections of the floor will showcase the use of sand and polystyrene as underfloor insulating materials.

Construction began last term on the Living Room, which is set to be the first eco-classroom in New Zealand to be designed and managed by the students themselves. They’ve been directly involved in coming up with the concept, briefing the architect Antanas Procuta, developing the drawings, researching eco-friendly building materials and ideas, fundraising, and selecting a project manager.

 They’ll also be involved in some of the construction work.

For background information on the project, take a look at this YouTube video produced by one of the Living Room's sponsors, WWF -- http://www.wwf.org.nz/what_we_do/education/inspiring_schools/hukanui_primary_school/



More details are available at www.ecoclassroomnz.com

, or by contacting Michelle White, Hukanui School’s environmental education teacher, at michellew@hukanui.school.nz

ENDS