Case study detail
Red Hill Primary School’s climate-proofed building
Learning for sustainability in Worcestershire schools
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Sustainable Development Commission
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Worcestershire County Council (WCC) sees educating the next generation about sustainable development as a crucial role for schools, and has run an internationally respected Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) service for many years.
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Overview
Worcestershire County Council (WCC) sees educating the next generation about sustainable development as a crucial role for schools, and has run an internationally respected Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) service for many years.
Over the last two years, the ESD Team have coordinated a County Learning for Sustainability Forum which brings together officers from County Council Directorates, District Councils, local NGOs and others supporting schools with their work to become sustainable schools. The Forum recently had its Learning for Sustainability Strategy approved by the Worcestershire Partnership (a local strategic partnership), and this endorsement strengthens the Forum’s role in building partnerships for action on sustainable schools. Climate change is a named key theme running through the Strategy.
Over the past three years, the authority has worked with Warwickshire County Council and Coventry City Council on a Switch it Off campaign that is linked to its work on climate change with schools. The campaign is delivered through a two-week programme. The first week involves ‘under-cover’ audits and checks by a pupil-led eco team, leading to a general awareness raising about the issues and possible solutions. The second week is ‘Switch it Off Week’, with a focus on actively reducing energy use. Schools have reported varying degrees of success, with some cutting electricity consumption by a third and one school by 50 per cent. The campaign is a part of a joined-up approach to encouraging schools to focus on energy across curriculum, campus and community, not just as a one off, but as an ongoing theme and tied in with monitoring and evaluation as part of Eco-Schools. It has led to much greater awareness of the benefits of monitoring and reducing energy use in schools, including the potential cost savings.
The ESD service is active in thinking through how climate change can be addressed through the design and construction of school buildings. Its strong links with the Council’s architecture unit have influenced the design of schools in the county, a good example of which is Red Hill first school in Worcester.
Designed as a ‘climate change ready’ school, Red Hill was one of the first in the UK to use the UKCIP climate change adaptation framework to inform the design process, leading to a low–profile roofline with wide guttering, shade-giving overhangs, a sustainable drainage scheme (SUDS) and solar-powered ventilation stacks. It was opened by the minister for climate change on 18th June 2007 and acts as a test bed for technologies to be used elsewhere in the County.
The building has a variety of features that reduce its carbon footprint and enhance the overall environment of the site. It is the first school in the County with ground source heating and hot water systems. It harvests rainwater for flushing toilets and has a mechanical extract ventilation system powered by small photovoltaic panels. The ICT suite is cooled in summer using the ground source heat pump in reverse mode, while the sustainable drainage system provides includes a rich wildlife habitat and recreation/learning area based on swales and ponds. Much of the original building was crushed on site to create hardcore for the new foundations, and extensive use was made of recycled content materials in the construction.
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education
energy
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