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SUSTAINABLE BUILDING
A Jedi is no match for a good estate decarbonisation plan
In his pursuit of school estate net-zero NIGEL AYLWIN-FOSTER, Business Development Director at school decarbonisation specialists, ReEnergise, travels to a galaxy.....
first meeting. ‘I hear that you have discovered the secret of
infinite energy’, continued Vader. ‘No, I don’t think so’, said Luke, wondering
where this was going and surreptitiously activating the pocket transmitter that silently alerted his Estate Manager, Sam Wisely, that there might be trouble brewing and he should make his way over just in case. Sam was ex Special Forces and a Grand Master in several martial arts. ‘Do you deny that this is your college?’ said
Lord Vader imperiously, as he thrust a copy of Education Today on Luke’s desk and stabbed his rather long, bony finger at an article within. ‘I picked this up at a recharging station on the new Omega Galaxy Bypass’.
L uke Richards, Principal at Burkitt-Teeshark
College, was busy studying the recently published DfE Strategy on net-zero. ‘Done’, he thought. ‘Done.’ ‘Sorted.’ Lest you should by now be thinking that Mr
Richards – we’ll call him Luke – was verging on being a touch pleased with himself, smug even, I can assure you that he was nothing of the kind. But he had made sustainability his thing in the past five years and, with the enthusiastic support of staff and students, a comprehensive estate decarbonisation plan – and not a little luck in securing various government and local grants – he had made significant progress. He was on track to reach his target of estate net-zero by 2035 and, beyond that, energy self-sufficiency. ‘Hmm. Not sorted. I must get the Director of
Estates to find out about Demand-Side Response.’ But as he reached for his mobile, he was
interrupted by Softly-Softly, his PA. ‘There’s a Mr Vader to see you.’ ‘So soon? It’s only 7.45.’ ‘He’s most insistent, and… somehow rather
persuasive,’ replied Softly-Softly. ‘Alright. I’ll be out in a minute.’ But even as he
spoke his visitor was pushing his way through the door. ‘Mr Vader, do come in. How can I help?’ said
Luke without a trace of disquiet in his voice, as he walked forward to shake the hand of the tall, dark figure framed by the doorway. ‘I am Lord Vader, actually.’ The handshake was
declined. Luke noticed that his visitor’s features were obscured by a rather forbidding black mask, like something out of a film set. And he spoke with a strange, rasping, almost metallic tone. ‘Oh, I’m so sorry. We had no prior knowledge
of your coming and…’ ‘Spare me the pleasantries. I am here to find
some answers.’ He had a way of emphasising certain words that made him come across as slightly menacing, if a little high-handed for a
but we have done what we can to upgrade them; and the heat pumps will be working at higher temperatures than the typical stock. I won’t deny, that project has also been a challenging one…’ ‘You must turn…’ ‘Shh!’ commanded Luke, who realised that he
was finding within himself a sense of authority that he had not tapped into before. ‘Once we’ve sorted the provision of heating
and hot water around the estate, we will start converting the minibuses to electric vehicles. When that’s been done, as the National Grid is itself steadily becoming net-zero, we will be running a net-zero college estate. But I also have ambitions to be self-sufficient for energy across all our power, heat and transport functions, at least in a virtual sense. So to that end we are starting on a project to install a new large-scale solar system, combined with on-site power storage at a similar scale.’ ‘You are planning to renew the Solar System?!
You are more powerful than I thought! The Force is indeed with you, Luke Richards,’ exclaimed Vader. At that moment they were interrupted as Sam
Wisely entered. ‘Bad news, Boss’. (He still hadn’t dropped the
special forces vernacular). ‘It’s OK Sam. I have it under control.’ ‘No Boss, not that. It’s Mr Vader’s spaceship. It
Birkett-Teeshark College heading for
energy self-sufficiency stated the headline. ‘Well, yes, that is indeed us’ replied Luke,
wondering now about the circulation of Education Today. ‘But it is a slight overstatement to infer from that headline that we have discovered infinite energy. All we have been doing is steadily and resolutely following a strategy to its logical conclusion, Lord Vader. First, we have taken steps to reduce our energy consumption to the bare minimum, by a combination of technology interventions and adjusting the behaviour of the occupants.’ ‘I know a thing or two about changing
behaviours, myself,’ interjected Lord Vader. ‘Indeed,’ replied Luke. ‘It is challenging.’ ‘You must turn to the Dark Side. You will find
it makes life so much easier.’ Luke ignored this cheap sales ploy and pressed
on with his pitch. Ever the entrepreneur himself, as every good college Principal needs to be, he was already wondering whether he might find some way to get Lord Vader to help with his mission. ‘Then we started on the electrification of the
estate. We are even now in the process of installing heat pumps and a district heating system that will connect into all our old buildings. Obviously, our planned new-build will go up with heat pumps as part of the package. Some people told me it couldn’t be done, because our older buildings are inherently inefficient and leak heat,
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www.education-today.co.uk July/August 2022
was parked by the waste collection area. The council truck has just trashed it. Accidental of course. But I’m afraid it’s a write-off.’ Luke looked at Vader with a winning smile.
‘Looks like you could be here for a while, Lord Vader. I’m sorry. However, we do have a vacancy for a teaching assistant in the Geography Department. You must have travelled a fair bit...?’
Key points: • A comprehensive estate decarbonisation plan is the first step in becoming a net-zero school estate. • Heat pumps can work in leaky, old, school buildings, but careful specification and installation is essential. • Mind where you park your spaceship.
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