Enfield school and sixth form to become one of UK’s greenest after £3m funding win

Property consultant Eddisons has secured £3m funding that will enable an Enfield school to undergo a wholesale decarbonisation process as part of a Government pilot scheme to slash public sector carbon emissions.

The 1,500-student Kingsmead School and Sixth Form, which employs 150 staff, will see a complete overhaul of its heating, lighting and insulation systems, saving more than 300 tonnes of carbon a year, and more than 6,000 tonnes of carbon over the 20-year life of the air source heat pumps that will heat the buildings.

Gary Benn, associate director of Eddisons and part of the firm’s Cambridge building and project consultancy team, said: “We carried out a complete survey of the school to establish the carbon saving potential that would be achieved by each of the green measures.

“We’re really pleased that our work has resulted in Kingsmead becoming one of only a handful of schools across the country to be selected to take part in the Department for Education’s decarbonisation pilot scheme, with £3m of funding secured for the works.

“It’s great news for the whole school community and is truly pioneering in terms of the very positive environmental impact this project will have.”

As part of the decarbonisation process, the school’s gas boilers will be removed and replaced with a battery of state-of-the-art air source heat pumps, windows will be changed for thermo-efficient replacements and LED lighting will be installed throughout the school. The buildings’ roofs will also become home to a large solar-panel system, generating electricity for the school and the grid.

While this project is a Department for Education pilot, the Government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme is part of its push to meet the UK’s net zero goal by 2050 and aims to cut carbon emissions from schools and other public buildings.

Gary added: “Schools are one of the types of public buildings identified as eligible for funding via the scheme and we’re working with a number of academy trusts and maintained schools to advise them on how they can secure funding to become greener and to improve their existing building infrastructure. It’s exciting to be part of this essential move towards a greener future.”