Decarbonisation

A key part of a plan is reducing your carbon emissions. This is called decarbonisation. The goal is to do this entirely and become 'carbon neutral'. Carbon emissions are created by heating the school and using electricity which uses fossil fuels. Reducing them can be done by replacing fossil fuel energy sources with low-carbon ones.

Make your school as energy efficient as possible by:

turning the thermostat down

using a building management system to control energy use and training staff how to use it

insulating the fabric of the building

installing renewable energy such as solar panels

replacing fossil fuel boilers with low-carbon alternatives such as heat pumps.

Lowering emissions can be done in different ways. You can:

replace fossil fuels with low-carbon alternatives. Such as replacing gas boilers with heat pumps

install renewable energy such as solar panels

improve energy efficiency by upgrading lighting to LED lighting.

These actions will also help your school reduce energy bills and improve air quality. There are a number of small and achievable actions your school can take in the first instance. Such as by making your school as energy efficient as possible. It is recommended that these actions are carried out before larger retrofit projects.