FOCUS ON: SUSTAINABILITY
Reflections on net-zero in schools: part 2 Comment by NIGEL AYLWIN-FOSTER, ReEnergise Projects Ltd
achieving a net-zero carbon estate than anything else that a school could do. The two pie charts below show typical carbon footprints for a day and a boarding school, covering all the main categories of GHG emissions both on and beyond the estate. Heating (the red wedge) is the largest component of the total footprint and dominates the estate energy usage contributions (heating, grid electricity, school-owned transport). It is also the most difficult, disruptive, and expensive aspect of estate decarbonisation, so should be given due priority in drawing up the EDP.
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n the previous article in this series (see Education Today November 2022) I looked at what the net-zero endstate might be for a range of schools: a combination of net-zero carbon and shades of net-zero energy. Just in case you’ve lost your old copy of Education Today, here are those definitions again:
• Net-Zero Carbon is achieved by reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) as far as possible and then using carbon offsetting to compensate for the balance. The purpose is to combat climate change.
• Net-Zero Energy means generating as much energy as is used. This does not necessarily mean a school’s energy usage is particularly low, nor that it has a low carbon footprint. A net-zero energy school will almost certainly still rely on grid power at various times of the day, but it could also be exporting power back to the grid at other times (or selling it to some other user nearby): the key is the net-zerobalance between the two. The ultimate purpose iis to save money: it is not about the GHG emissions, because the UK’s electricity grid is rapidly decarbonising anyway.
The ideal is to achieve both but, as explained in the previous article, most if not all schools in the UK will eventually become net-zero carbon, whilst most can only get part way to net-zero for energy: but even if a school can only get partway there, it’s still a worthwhile goal in principle because it will do so much to reduce a school’s operating costs. But how to set about getting to the desired endstate? First, we need a plan! Being net-zero carbon means ceasing to use or rely on fossil fuels for any part of the school operation, including in the supply chain and off the estate (e.g. staff commuting and school trips on commercial transport); or offsetting where the irreducible minimum of fossil fuel usage has been reached. The plan to achieve that is most aptly described as an estate decarbonisation plan (EDP). An EDP describes how a school intends to remove its reliance on fossil fuels for all its estate heat, transport, and power needs: this is done in enough detail to include a programme of implementation projects, with the associated business cases for each project, and the budgeting profile.
The Importance of Heat Decarbonisation
It is worth emphasizing that until the heating plant has been converted to renewable alternatives, a school estate will never become net-zero carbon: conversion of the heating plant will contribute more towards
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It is in recognition of this facet of net-zero that the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS), run by Salix Finance on behalf of the UK Government, stresses the importance of heat decarbonisation. Salix use the term ‘heat decarbonisation plan’ (HDP) rather than EDP, but the content of the two plans is broadly similar: the main difference is that there is no public sector funding to cover the part of the plan relating to the decarbonisation of transport.
The EDP/HDP Logic
A well-structured decarbonisation plan requires careful study of the school estate: the plan is the output from that study. The study starts with measuring the current energy usage and carbon footprint, and understanding the operation and intended future development of the estate. The study then needs to consider:
A) The energy efficiency measures required to reduce energy usage as far as possible and prepare the estate for conversion to low-carbon systems.
B) The options for the independent generation and storage of power on the estate, to reduce the estate’s reliance on grid power.
C) The options for the conversion of the heat, transport and power assets at the school to low-carbon systems.
D) The integration and control of all the intended infrastructure changes, such that they work together to optimum effect for the school estate in terms of ease of use, and impact on cost and carbon emissions.
And from all the above, the study needs to determine a pragmatic, affordable programme of infrastructure projects that achieves the intended endstate – the net-zero school estate. This is the plan. Given that implementing the plan will entail significant capital outlay, at a time when funds are inevitably short, the trick will be to derive a plan that enables progress in the short term without jeopardising the long-term objective
September 2023
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