Seven UK schools are taking part in a multi-million pound government pilot to improve heating and energy efficiency.
The £18.6 million Decarbonisation Pilot is led by the Department for Education (DfE) and is backed by procurement body, Fusion21.
Energy bills and carbon emissions in the public and higher educations sectors show that schools and universities represent 36% of total UK public sector building emissions, the procurement organisation says.
Fusion21’s frameworks were used to procure contractors to deliver the works on the seven schools. These will receive new low carbon heating systems, as well as improvements to their building fabric intended to boost thermal efficiency.
In addition, where found to be necessary, the schools’ building fabric will also be improved with upgrades ranging from new electrics, roofs and ceilings, to new doors and windows amid a government drive to make educational buildings greener.
Oliver Mooney, head of category at Fusion21 said it was “fantastic” to be involved in “such an important” DfE project, and to support the schools that used its frameworks to appoint contractors.
He added: [T]hese transformational, multi-million pound improvement works will vastly improve the buildings, bring huge energy savings and carbon emission reductions, and ensure pupils, teachers and parents are playing an important role in decarbonisation and net zero ambitions.”
The schools and contractors taking part in the pilot are:
- Kensa Contracting is providing an estimated £3m of work for Waterton Academy Trust’s West End Academy, Wakefield
- Kensa Contracting is also providing an estimated £3.4m of work for The Rose Learning Trust’s Richmond Hill Primary Academy in Doncaster
- GRAHAM Asset Management is working on a project worth an estimated £2m for North West Academies Trust’s (NWAT) Acton CofE Primary Academy, Nantwich
- Also for NWAT, GRAHAM has work valued at £1.8m for Calveley Primary Academy in Tarporley
- Dodd Group (Midands) is delivering an estimated £2.1m of work for BMAT’s Roydon Primary Academy in Essex
- Dodd Group is also delivering an estimated £3.4m of work to Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership’s Peasedown St John Primary School in Bath
- And for St Mary’s Academy in Hitchin, Dodd Group is delivering work estimated at a value of £2.9m
The pilot project supports a drive for existing school buildings to be adapted, and new ones designed adequately to respond to climate change and reduce emissions.
Furthermore, it is said the pilot will provide a valuable opportunity to learn more about alternative greener heating solutions, and to use this learning to consider how this can be scaled up to accelerate decarbonisation in the future.
Image credit: Fusion21
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