Learning Lessons

The UK has over 30,000 schools and colleges of further education. These education premises make up the largest public sector estate and according to DEFRA (the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) are currently responsible for approximately 10% of carbon emissions for all commercial and public buildings in the UK.

The Carbon Trust also estimates that the cost of energy use in all UK schools is about £350M per annum and rising. This energy use results in the emission of approximately 5 million tonnes of CO2 every year or 15% of all public sector CO2 emissions.

For these reasons the Government sees schools as a key player in policy to reduce overall energy consumption and meet national CO2 reduction targets. According to the Carbon Trust’s ‘Energy Saving Fact Sheet’ schools have the potential to reduce energy consumption by up to 20% especially from the largest areas of energy use which are heating and lighting. It is also believed that this can be achieved whilst positively improving conditions for both pupils and staff.

Current estimates assume that about 20–25% of energy use in schools comes from lighting. This could be reduced through better lighting scheme design, the use of more efficient equipment and controls and the increased use of daylight. Daylight alone could have the potential to reduce energy loads by up to 15% and to create a more productive learning environment.

Since 2005-2006 Building Schools for the Future (BSF), the Government’s 15 year, £45 billion plan to rebuild or renovate every Secondary school in England has been in progress.

‘At the heart of Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is the need for local authorities (LAs) to develop a vision for education in their area that offers real innovation and enables teaching and learning to be transformed. It is the first principle of a successful BSF strategy.’ DfES (the Department for Education and Skills) 2004

A clear vision and innovative concepts for the transformation of the teaching environment exists in the recent lighting design work of BDP (Building Design Partnership) Lighting, who have a long track record in school design.

One specific project that they are currently working on is a primary school refurbishment at the All Saints School in Bishop’s Stortford. This project is being led by Lighting Director Mark Ridler who is currently a Governor at the school.

The scheme comprises the replacement of aging surface mounted T8 Fluorescent battens with new, more efficient and affordable, surface mounted, linear fluorescent fittings with an improved LOR (light output ratio). These new fittings have been jointly designed by BDP lighting and lighting manufacturer Louis Poulsen and are available as part of the Louis Poulsen range under the name of Skole.

The Skole fittings use a specially engineered prismatic diffuser with an optic that optimises the distribution of light both back onto the soffit and over walls thus creating a more comfortable and contrast free lit environment.

Most pupils at the All Saints School now use laptops. The new lighting installation has taken account of this by allowing for their flexible use via minimising glare through the lighting layout. The new installation not only seeks to promote occupancy comfort but offers energy and cost savings with the use of daylight linking and the fact that it will be very easy to install.

Each luminaire has its own integral daylight linking and has the capacity to incorporate PIR controls thus obviating the need for the installation of further complex control mechanisms. Whilst anticipated to deliver 50% energy savings, there is also no requirement to change existing wiring and so the retrofit solution needs no more sophistication than a competent electrician substituting one fitting for another.

When asked about the scheme and its merits, Mark Ridler said that, “Whilst driving best practice into newly built schools is important, they only account for a small proportion of the existing stock. In a primary school, lighting accounts for 20-30% of energy usage and they are being instructed by central government that they obliged to budget for 40% year on year energy inflation. The payback on this type of luminaire is fast. If we could deliver this type of saving over the entire stock it would cut UK CO2 emissions by thousands of tonnes a year, whilst delivering an improved lit environment for our children and teachers, now and for future generations.”

www.bdp.co.uk