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The whole world needs to reduce its carbon emissions to reverse global warming. Schools and colleges face some particular challenges; but there are opportunities as well, especially for those that take an early lead.
This page offers advice for schools and colleges.
That may sound a long time away but there are some technical challenges to be overcome that will take decades. The way we generate and use power, heat and transport is already changing but the pace of change will need to accelerate. The decarbonisation of heat at the national scale is probably going to prove the most challenging task and requires urgent attention and action.
All of this will have an impact on schools and change the nature of the school estate.
In many ways the school of 2050 will look like the school of 2020: a mixture of green spaces and old and new buildings, some more suitable for their purpose than others. However, the underlying energy infrastructure for provision of power, heat and transport will be radically different.
Do not despair or be overly daunted by this challenge: it is all do-able. However, this has become an issue that is going to require rather more of your energy, time and attention than has probably been the case in the past.
Read our FAQs below to discover how to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions and become a zero-carbon school.
If it’s sounding interesting but a bit indigestible, we’d much rather discuss it with you the old-fashioned way. We’re used to briefing busy school staff and a phone call or video chat can be much easier in the long-run than wading through a website.
The answer is in four parts: our children’s future, legislation, saving money, and getting a competitive advantage!
Excessive carbon in the atmosphere is causing climate change. We’re already experiencing the effects but with each passing decade they will become more severe. It’s the children in our schools who will grow up to face the brunt of the onslaught.
The government has already begun the process of legislating to phase out the use of the worst fossil fuels, namely coal and oil. Mains gas will inevitably follow. That process will take time, given the scale of the task and infrastructure implications: but it will happen. Increasingly, new builds will be required to meet exacting standards of energy efficiency and retrospective action will be required to convert school estates to alternative low-carbon systems.
Operating costs can be reduced by making the school buildings more energy efficient and converting to low-carbon energy systems. However, low-carbon systems are expensive to install and this can be a barrier for some schools. As you will see below, the government offers significant financial incentives for certain types of projects, making the effort required to become a zero-carbon school more affordable. Furthermore, every school can do a lot to reduce energy usage without spending much money, such as running a campaign to get staff and students to become more energy-aware and stop being wasteful.
Competition between schools is intense and parents and children will increasingly want to know what each school is doing to reduce carbon. A school’s carbon status and intent will soon become a marketing issue!
You are more likely to achieve zero-carbon status affordably if you are:
In short, you need a decarbonisation plan that covers energy efficiencies and conversion to low-carbon systems across the three major energy usage categories in the school: power, heat and transport. This will save money, reduce your carbon footprint and increase the resilience of your estate. But what sort of work does this mean? Here are some examples:
Power:
Heating:
Transport:
There are currently 7 ways (listed below) to finance a project. ReEnergise can advise you on the options and support you in securing finance. It depends to some extent whether your school is in the public or independent sector; but there are options for both sectors.
If you agree that something needs to change and want to know more, please contact us. We offer a step-by-step approach to the decarbonisation of school and college estates that is intended to reduce the risks as far as possible, and avoid clients wasting money on dead ends or expensive mistakes. It starts with a free, no-obligation assessment of your estate.
Here are some of the schools and colleges we’ve helped in recent years. Our support has ranged from feasibility studies all the way through to the management of installation works. Our full range of services is covered at Our Approach.
If it’s sounding interesting but a bit indigestible, we’d much rather discuss it with you the old-fashioned way. We’re used to briefing busy school staff and a phone call or video chat can be much easier in the long-run than wading through a website.