On Wednesday, November 7, 2007, the first Regional Centre in Sustainable Building and Renewable Energy was formally opened. It was envisaged, designed and financed through the EU CARDS 2003– VET Programme and Environment Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund.
The School of Building and Crafts Čakovec and its partner, Energy Institute Hrvoje Požar of Zagreb, have completed a series of activities within the project thus making a startpoint for the future dissemination of knowledge in the region and a fulfilling a prerequisite of integrating the activities into curriculums.
In the beginning, the Principal of the School, Mr. Zoran Pazman B.Sc. Architecture addressed the audience – representatives of Ministries, County officials, partners, donators, VET Agency representatives and staff members of the School.
After a presentation of the CARDS 2003 – REVVETIS Project – from the preliminary design all way through to the full implementation – Ms Branka Jelavić, Ph. D., the project manager, addressed the audience in the name of the partner organization, EIHP.
Ms Željka Hrs Borković and Mr Zdeslav Matić of EIHP continued to speak about the purpose of the Project - education in the field of energy efficiency in housebuilding and technologies that are capable of generating renewable energy
The audiences were as well addressed by Ms Marija Marcelić, Head of VET Agency Research and Development Department, by Mr Vladimir Ivković, the Chairman of the County Assembly, and at last, but by no means at least, by Minister of Culture, Mr. Božo Biškupić.
The cozy atmosphere during the opening ceremony was provided by the School Musical Section lead by Mr. Vladimir Mihaljević, BA, and the School theatre group that performed a roleplay entitled «The Earth – Our Home» directed and by Ms Emilija Kovač, MA, a teacher of Croatian.
The funds used in the Project yielded a contemporary demonstrational park, a sustainable building and renewable energy laboratory, a showroom and a state-of-the-art equipped CAD cabinet. The guests were invited to take a look around the REVETIS centre premises and the premises and the exhibits drew their utmost attention.
After the browsing of the Centre, a party seasoned by the tamburica orchestra lead by Mr. Vladimir Mihaljević followed in the School Gym hall.

ENERGY EFFICIENCE SHOWROOM

In the showroom, which displays exhibits relatred to energy efficiency, sample building constructions underlining low-energy and sustainable architectire have been assembled. These are construction sections of a wall and the roof featuring good thermic characteristics and showing the proper application of the thermal bridge. There is as well a sample section of a window made from quality frame profile and quality glass. In accordance with the Regulation on Heating Energy Saving and Thermic Insulation in Buildings (OG 79/05), thermic insulation is required at all wedge constructions on the level prescribed by the estimate of the overall heating energy needed. Thus the usual thickness of the thermic insulation amounts 8 to 12 cm on outer walls and floors, whereas on ceilings adjacent to attics or roof the thickness of the insulation amounts 16 to 20 cm. A special stress has ben put on quality window frame profiles and glass used. Wooden, PVC and aluminum frames as well as various combinations of the former have been produced nowadays. Disconnection of the thermic bridge and perfect sealing are obligatory at the frames production.

RENEWAL OF THE FACADE AND DEVELOPING THE TERRAIN IN FRONT OF THE LABORATORY

The works on the (re)construction of the laboratory and workshops have been going on. The existing frames have been painted, the facade has been renewed and the terrain at the front has been developed

Showroom

The purchased apparatuses and exhibits are being assembled and displayed in the appropriate places in tge showroom

Training course for the licensed thermographists in the Republic of Croatia

From July 2 to July 6, 2007, Darinka Kalšan, BS (Architecture) of School of Building and Crafts Čakovec, Željka Hrs-Borković, BS (Architecture) and Zdeslav Matić BS (Electrical Engineering), both of EI Hrvoje Požar of Zagreb attended and successfully completed a course in INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY sampling. The course took place at the Technology Transfer Centre of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Shipbuilding of Zagreb.

EQUIPPING THE SHOWROOM

The envisaged furniture – tables and display boxes – has been completed and other apparatuses intended for presenting the state-of-the-art techniques of heating, hot water preparation and electricity production have been acquired.

CONSTRUCTION OF THE FOUNDATIONS IN THE OUTDOOR AREA IN FRONT OF THE LABORATORY

The construction of the foundations to accommodate photovoltaic panels and a wind turbine is about to wrap up.

WORKS ON THE SHOWROOM

The intense works on completing the showroom have been going on. The showroom is to accommodate the components of the systems utilized by renewable energy and that are, in turn, to be highly useful in education and informing the wide public. A section of the showroom is to stage building materials samples and construction elements closely related to energy conscious and sustainable architecture.

THE MODERN CLASSROOM

Besides other vocational training-intended laboratories, there is as well the fully functional multimedial classroom used for lectures for students on the sustainable building and renewable energy.

16.05.2007

TERMIKA Novi Marof
KNAUF INSULATION d.o.o.
Novi Marof

Within the REVETIS project, the students of the School of Building and Crafts Čakovec attending class 2k (heating and air-condition systems installing course), went for a field trip to the Knauf Insulation factory (former stone wool factory "Termika") in Novi Marof on Wednesday, May 16, 2007. After an initial lecture on the necessity of reducing heat losses in housebuilding and on the ways of using stone wool for the purpose, the students, their teachers and EIHP employees were taken for a tour around the plant in order to get to know the production processes.

Sightseeing the archaeological site of Roman spa AQUA ISSAE at Varaždinske Toplice followed. The students were delighted at hearing the facts on the 2000 years old brimstone-containing thermal water spring and on the living and dwelling culture of the Romans who already in ancient times knew the technique of heating premises by means of hot air.

After a two-month lecture course cycle on the energy efficiency in housebuilding, sustainable building, renewable energy and final knowledge survey being taken within the REVETIS project, the two field trips have been undertaken with the purpose of an immediate teaching practice in the field of the usage of the renewable energies of the sun and wind.

Friday, May 4, 2007, Wind Farm Trtar – Krtolin and Slapovi Krke National Park

The students attending classes 3a and 3j, joined by the students attending 2a and 2b classes who coincidentally were on a 2-day field trip to Šibenik and Zadar again teamed with the employees of the Energy Institute Hrvoje Požar of Zagreb and School of Building and Crafts Čakovec to take a tour around the wind farm Trtar-Krtolin near Šibenik. Besides the wind farm at the isle of Pag, this is the only wind farm in Croatia. It started producing electricity in the year of 2006 and its power amounts to 11,2 MW. It consists of 14 wind turbines of 50 m height ; the foundations' dimensions of each of them are 11 x 11 x 4 m. Due to bad weather conditions and thunders, there was a possibility for the visitors to be denied access to the turbines. Luckily, this was not the case. All the visitors have been impressed with the height of the turbines and their power. The rest of the field trip time passed in touring the Slapovi Krke National Park. The ride in a boat exposed to the raindrops fascinated students the most.

Friday, April 20, 2007, Novigrad and Motovun

The students attending classes 4a and 4b, teamed with the employees of the Energy Institute Hrvoje Požar of Zagreb visited the „Solaris“ factory in Novigrad where they were shown a short presentation concerning the technology and production at the plant; a guided tour around the plant and the production stages facilities followed so that the students could get to know the process of manufacturing photovoltaic elements used to convert the energy from the sun into electricity. The field trip ended with sightseeing Motovun.

04.04.2007

Lectures for students wraps up

The final survey of students has been taken after the 2-month lecture series. The average score level amounts 60% which is, as opposed to the average of 36% after the initial survey, an obvious mark of progress and efectiveness of the lectures.
The ten students to have scored the highest percentage have been awarded with caps, t-shirts and jackets bearing the logos of the project and the EU.

03.03.2007

Within the framework of REVETIS project and envisaged education in the field of sustainable building and renewable energy, the representatives of the Energy Institute Hrvoje Požar of Zagreb have been giving lectures for students at the School of Building and Crafts Čakovec on a regular basis (every Friday) since February 2, 2007. So, every Friday, the eminent experts take turns in lecturing in an interesting way, using educative slides and thus open a new world of the technical and technological options in the field in Croatia of today, as well as in Croatia of the nearest future, i.e. as a EU member.

There are 140 students and 6 teachers attending lectures that are given in accordance with the following timetable:

The students were initially surveyed as to their previous knowledge in the field of energy efficiency and usage of renewable energy. Once the lectures' cycle is over, they are going to be surveyed again in order to assess the efficiency of education.
The students to show the best knowledge level are going to be awarded with the promotive material items, namely t-shirts and caps.
Field trips have also been planned, namely to Solar Cells Factory Novigrad, Wind Farm Ravne 1 Pag and Rock Wool Factory Novi Marof.

8. i 9.01.2007

An Inter-County Building Experts Board session was being held on January 8 and 9, 2007. The topic of the session was energy efficiency in housebuilding and renewable energy.

The session was being held at the School of Building and Crafts and was attended by the secondary VET teachers teaching vocational subjects.
After the Board Coordinator Zoran Pazman, B.Sc. (Architecrure) addressed the attendants, Ms Željka Hrs-Borković of the Energy Institute Hrvoje Požar went on to talk about the REVETIS project that is being implemented by the Institute and the School. The project has been financed by the EU and the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund in cooperation vith the Croatian VET Agency. After that, Hrvoje Petrić, MA, briefed the attendants on energy efficiency in housebuilding and cooling, heating and vent systems. Mr. Filip Prebeg's lecture on lighting and appliances energy efficiency followed. The agenda of the exceptionally attractive session was concluded by the lectures given by Mr Zdeslav Matić of EIHP (The solar energy application and usage), Mr Laslo Horvath (The wind energy application and usage) and Julije Domac (Biomass as the source of energy).

4.12.2006

SURVEY

Within the Project framework, an anonymous survey was taken at the School of Building and Crafts Čakovec on Monday, December 4, 2006. The survey included the students of the classes 2k, 3j, 4a , 4b (architectural heritage technicians) and 4c (interior design); The survey questions have been aimed at auditing the knowledge of the surveyed on some aspects of the Project (engineering realm knowledge, energy usage options, sources of renewable energy, the largest energy consumption entities, etc.). As a part of the project implementation schedule, the training courses on renewable energy for teachers and students shall take place in the course of the January and the February of 2007, respectively. After the courses have been completed, a new survey is to show the extent of knowledge of the advances of the renewable energy acquired.

09./10.2006


The works on the school slab construction have been in progress, as well as the setting up of the premises intended to host the future Regional Centre of Vocational Education in Sustainable Building and Renewable Energy.

Namely, the basic supply systems have been installed, the tables for the laboratory have been made and the computers for education, i.e. for presenting the didactic materials related to the implementation of the project have been purchased.

The activities related to the visual identity of the project: the students are setting up two tables-displays containing the basic visual and textual marks for participants and the project
badges.

The web-page of the project has been set up and the written materials and the brochure related to the project are being edited.
The students attending the media assistant course will try to make a video on the works that have been performed.

The procurement procedure for the thermographic camera and the computers for presentation has been completed.

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