Countdown to COP #5 : Net Zero Carbon Education Buildings

The GIA sustainability committee ran a session on Net Zero Carbon in Education Buildings on October 15th.

In the session Melissa Hart tackled the evolving regulations in Scotland in this area, how JM Architects are addressing these regulations and targets to head towards achieving net zero carbon for their projects

We also heard about several, mainly Welsh, Passivhaus school case studies from Craig Pilkington of WSP, which have been completed over the past few years and have proven that operational energy can be drastically reduced by following the Passivhaus approach. The added benefits of increased thermal comfort and improved air quality, plus the knock-on benefits these have for providing a great education environment were noted.

Finally we ended with a presentation from Renwick Drysdale of KF Forestry on carbon offsetting, which is likely to be a component of any Net Zero strategy, due to the high likelihood of there being an amount of residual carbon emissions even after energy efficiency is pushed and embodied carbon impacts addressed. Renwick explained how KF Forestry are currently offering carbon offsetting services through new tree planting schemes in Scotland, which may be of particular interest to developers who wish to see the benefits of their offset payments seen locally.