'Worrying Signs' Government's School Building Programme Could Miss 'Zero-Carbon' Target

Children and Teachers Behaviour More Important in Greening our Schools Than Expensive Technology, Inquiry Finds

LONDON, November 24 - The Government's flagship Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme
is in danger of failing to meet its zero-carbon schools target, a new inquiry
has found.

And despite the eight-month 'Beyond Buildings' inquiry finding that the
behavioural change of children and teachers was the most significant way of
helping reduce schools energy consumption, the inquiry heard evidence that
BSF still looks to costly 'green' technologies like biomass boilers and solar
panels.

In April 2007 the Government announced an extra GBP 110 million over 3
years (roughly GBP 0.5 million per school) to address environmental
sustainability concerns and to seek a 60% reduction in their carbon
footprint.

The Westminster Sustainable Business Forum (WSBF) found funding is
dependent on claiming a projected rather than delivering an actual 60% carbon
reduction.

As a result, most new schools, built under Private Finance Initiatives
(PFI), will be paying their builders/operators around GBP 20,000 a year for
up to 25 years whether a school reduces its carbon footprint or not.

Crucially, schools cannot use this GBP 110 million funding to promote
behaviour change without which carbon footprints can not be substantially
reduced.

To show what could be done, one of the schools highlighted in the report
already encourages pupils to behave sustainably by training them to set up
and run self-elected 'energy teams' to start to raise awareness of energy
problems and save energy.(1)

The eight-month inquiry launched today in Parliament and chaired by Barry
Sheerman MP, Chair of the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee and
the Rt Hon Nick Raynsford MP, former construction minister, heard evidence
from head teachers, local and central government representatives,
contractors, architects, energy providers and technology experts and makes
over 30 recommendations to Government.

Barry Sheerman MP said:

'Although there is an enormous amount to praise in BSF's achievements,
'Beyond Buildings' shows that if we're really going to reduce the carbon
footprint of our schools, we must properly address the behaviour of students
and teachers and helping them to understand the impact their use of a
building has on the environment. That's a good lesson for our children to
learn and one that will help secure a real impact on reducing schools
long-term carbon footprint.'

Nick Raynsford MP said:

'Our inquiry found that all too often environmentally sustainable designs
risk ending up as environmentally unsustainable buildings for future
generations. We have to ensure contractors are held to account for the
long-term operation of school buildings not just their initial
specification'.

    Amongst the inquiries recommendations are calls for:-

    - Government must promote behaviour change as the key method of reducing
      the carbon footprint of new schools.

    - Government must not prioritise lowest cost over achieving long-term
      sustainability considerations.

    - Government must ensure construction and maintenance contractors are
      accountable for schools energy consumption over the life of the
      contract.

    - IT and computing suppliers must work with schools to help promote
      reduced energy usage.

    - Government to ensure a higher priority is given to evaluating
      environmental sustainability in the assessment of BSF contracts.

The report has been sponsored by Interserve, Polypipe and Thorpe
Killworth.

Notes to Editors

(1) One 'energy group' has produced its own YouTube video asking fellow
pupils and local residents, including Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis,
about their views on climate change. URL/link available on request.

About Us

The Westminster Sustainable Business Forum (WSBF) is a high-level
coalition of key UK businesses, government agencies and parliamentarians
which seeks to promote effective sustainability policy.

We bring together leading UK businesses who share a belief in the need to
operate in an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable way and
who understand that these concerns need to be incorporated into core business
practices in order for companies to prosper in the long-term.

The WSBF is a Policy Connect activity. Policy Connect is a party
politically neutral and not-for-profit organisation dedicated to promoting
better policy discussion across the skills, sustainability, health and
financial policy fields.

Sponsors

Interserve are a services, maintenance and building group operating in
the public and private sectors in the UK and internationally offering advice,
design, construction and facilities management services for society's
infrastructure.

Polypipe is one of Europe's most innovative manufacturers of plastic
piping systems for residential, commercial and infrastructure sectors.

Thorpe Kilworth design, manufacture and install high quality, innovative,
flexible and adaptable furniture to create stimulating and innovative
learning environments.

For further details including embargoed copies of the report, case studies, interview opportunities and background information, please contact: Daniel Golding, Communications Manager, Policy Connect, +44(0)20-7202-8587, daniel.golding at policyconnect.org.uk