LocatED has chosen Morgan Sindall Construction and the Department for Education (DfE) to conduct a decarbonisation feasibility study of England’s educational facilities
The study will assess potential carbon savings, capital/ROI, and operational impact for selected schools using intelligent solutions and in-house tools.
LocatED’s Net Zero Accelerator programme, launched on November 9, aims to implement new decarbonisation initiatives in 50 schools across England.
Helping local authorities achieve decarbonisation
The programme will be a centralised funding and delivery hub, providing a low-burden service for bodies like local authorities and multi-academy trusts. The programme aims to reduce the risk, time, and resources needed for decarbonisation.
LocatED aims to achieve this by eliminating upfront payments, sharing delivery risk with external partners, and coordinating intervention work and funding.
LocatED, commissioned by the DfE, launched the Net Zero Accelerator in August, aligning with the DfE’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy for the education system.
“We are passionate about helping the DfE and the whole country achieve Net Zero. The education estate represents 37% of all public sector building emissions. If schools and colleges can reduce their carbon footprint and achieve net zero, this will go a long way to meeting the government’s goal,” said Lara Newman, chief executive of LocatED.
“However, we recognise that for individual educational bodies, figuring out the right thing to do for their estate is incredibly difficult. This is why the Net Zero Accelerator is intended to lift the burden from the educational bodies of identifying what interventions will work for their buildings and how the work will be financed,” she continued.
How will the decarbonisation feasibility study work?
The feasibility study will analyse the costs, income generation, and return on investment based on school data like energy consumption and building surveys. The study involves partners appointed through an Invitation to Tender in September 2023, and it is set to conclude by the end of the year.
A report is expected by February 2024. The results will guide the possibility of a trial rollout in Spring 2024.
“We’re excited to be working with the Department for Education (DfE) and LocatED to support the Net Zero Accelerator programme,” commented Alan Smedley, national framework director for Morgan Sindall Construction.
“In addition, we’re thrilled to be working in alliance with some of our existing industry partners to highlight many of the solutions tried and tested on our own collaborative projects that will support long-term decarbonisation in the education sector,” he continued.
