Carbon Targets for New Build Schools
These pages contain the Department's requirements for reducing carbon
emissions from new school buildings within the capital programme.
On 10 April 2007 the (then) Secretary of State for Education and Skills made
the following announcement:
'We're already rebuilding and refurbishing every Secondary School in the country and, as part of this programme, I can announce that we will put £110 million over the next three years to test a bold aim — even higher standards for new and refurbished schools to reduce their carbon emissions, in some cases up to carbon neutrality.'
The baseline for this target is the predicted energy use of a school building that is designed to the energy efficiency standards set out in the 2002 Building Regulations. Carbon emissions from new school buildings shall be reduced by around 60% compared with this figure (recent (2006) revisions to Building Regulations already require that some of these carbon savings are delivered through improvements in building design).
All new schools, both primary and secondary, should be aiming towards this target, and an additional investment of £50/m2 (around £500k for a typical secondary school) will be available for new schools within BSF and Academies.
This funding is available for investment in the following:
Energy efficiency measures, reducing energy requirements for:
- heating (and cooling in some cases)
- lighting
- small power, mainly ICT (Information and Communication Technology)
Low or Zero Carbon energy generation:
- renewable and LZC sources for heating (and cooling in some cases)
- renewable sources for hot water
- renewable sources for electricity
- combined Heat and Power (CHP)
A simple piece of software (the 'carbon calculator') has been produced to assist in early consideration of the options for reducing carbon emissions. This allows users to test combinations of technical solutions and provides initial estimates of annual carbon savings and capital costs.
A guidance document, which explains how the 'carbon calculator' should be used and which describes the factors which contribute to meeting the target is also available. This guidance document is brief, containing references to sources of further information wherever appropriate. The calculator and the guidance document need to be saved under the same folder on a local drive if the hyperlinks from the calculator to the guidance document are to work.
The use of biomass (wood fuel) heating is anticipated to make a major contribution to meeting the carbon reduction target. The feasibility of biomass as a heating fuel should be evaluated for all new school projects, and a methodology for such an evaluation has been developed by the Department (see link below).
Reducing Carbon Emission in new school building by 60%: Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQ's)
You can read or download a copy here.
DCSF, Sally Brooks, Head of Schools Capital Division, The Carbon
Reduction Target Letter, 17 December 2007
You can read or download a copy here.
Presentations from DCSF Briefing Event held on 17 March 2008 on
Meeting a 60% Carbon Emissions Reduction.
You can read or download a copy here.
Related documents
- DCSF, The Use of Renewable Energy in School Buildings, Full Interactive Guidance, October 2007
- DCSF, Biomass Evaluation Methodology, October 2007
- DCSF, Companion Guide to the Biomass Evaluation Methodology, October 2007
Related links
- The Use of Renewable Energy in School Buildings: summary guidance
- The Use of Renewable Energy in School Buildings: full interactive guidance
- DCSF methodology for evaluating biomass in new build and refurbishment projects
- Sustainable Schools — Energy and Water
- Zero-Carbon Task Force
Last updated: 25 September 2008
