Not before time, the Welsh government has decreed that all new school builds shall be net zero carbon, It would help considerably if the education minister would also enforce his predecessor's Kirsty Williams' disposition against closing local schools. This would militate against the carbon and nitrogen oxides generated by car and bus journeys to a distant location.
The government's media release referred to the difficulty of converting legacy school buildings. However, net zero carbon for these may not be achieved quickly, but a start can be made in reducing their carbon footprint. I know of a school in the north of the county borough which installed photovoltaic panels on one roof in the days before it was fashionable to do so. Almost certainly these will have paid for themselves by now and the cost of these panels has tumbled since, allowing a much shorter pay-back time.
The county borough should also look at the practicality of increasing insulation.
1 comment:
Why stop at schools? Why not mandate that all public sector new builds should be net zero carbon - and that refurbishments will so far as possible reduce fossil-fuel dependency?
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