Turning schools green

The Guardian reports this week that the UK government wants…

…all schools to be “sustainable schools” by 2020 and embed the principles of green living in school life and teaching.

The government’s schools inspectorate, Ofsted, has recently written a report called Schools and Sustainability, a Climate for Change. Ofsted comments that sustainability is not yet an integral part of the curriculum. Any work that is carried out, often as extra-curricular activities, is therefore ’short-lived and limited to small groups of pupils’.

Construction companies involved in public private partnership (PPP) schemes such as the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) initiative are often required to consider this element within their bids.

An example of integrating sustainable technologies into a building and using them to educate pupils can be found in Balfour Beatty’s recent 2007 corporate responsibility report.

Joiner’s Square Primary School is part of the Stoke Schools PFI project. It is also Stoke-on-Trent’s first environmentally-friendly school.

Technologies that have been used include a wind turbine, a rainwater collection system, photovoltaic panels and a solar thermal system.

Information about the energy saved is collected and used as a learning tool by the schoolchildren.

A plasma screen in the school’s reception area displays external weather conditions and shows students how natural resources are being used to provide power to the school.

Ofsted’s report reinforces that educating pupils about sustainability and the environment continues to be a priority for the government. It will also, therefore, continue to be an important element for success in education sector construction projects.