Climate change is an increasingly pressing issue that isn’t just discussed or thought about by adults. Several studies have revealed it is very much a subject that’s on the minds of younger people too.
According to research led by the UCL Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education, when asked how students feel about climate change, 36% of them said they worry ‘a lot’ or ‘all the time’ about what the world will be like in the future. A further 50% reported they worry ‘a little.’
And in what has been described as a landmark study into young people’s climate anxiety levels, 60% of 16 to 25-year-olds admitted they felt ‘very worried’ or ‘extremely worried’ about climate change.
Sector-wide responsibility
There’s no denying the fact we all have a part to play in tackling climate change. Here in the UK, this vision is being spearheaded by the Government’s Net Zero Strategy, which touches on every business and sector, including education.
For schools, they can support their students by not only through the syllabus but implement sustainability into their day-to-day lives using the buildings that surround them, incorporating them within the curriculum.
Many schools have already taken the net zero gauntlet and run with it, paving the way for others to follow and build upon. This includes Treetops Free School in Essex, which was specifically designed to ‘turn sustainability talk into action.’
Green and clean
Widely recognised as a flagship project, Treetops was commissioned by the DfE as part of its MMC1 framework to encourage schools to use modern methods of construction for new buildings.
Every single aspect of the site is geared up to demonstrate just how green and clean schools of the future can be. Not only is it extensively insulated, electrically-powered and equipped with sustainably sourced materials, it is EPC A+ net zero-rated, supported by PV panels and Carbon Pathfinder-compliant.
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And as a result of this all-encompassing approach to reducing the site’s overall carbon footprint, Treetops is literally firing on all sustainability-driven cylinders. Thanks to the innovative design mentioned above, the school is net zero from:
- A build perspective – no stone was left unturned in decarbonising the site
- An operational perspective – the school’s annual energy bill has been reduced by an estimated £9,000
- An educational perspective – not only did Treetops’ 140 pupils get to see the pioneering project taking shape before them, they now get to experience what sustainability looks like in reality and how it is contributing to the bigger net zero picture
Widespread impact
Antony Hattam, Headteacher at Treetops Free School, says: “Knowing that the school will not only help the pupils of Thurrock educationally, but also environmentally, is incredibly important to us all.”
For more insight on how 21st century school build and design is helping tackle the climate change challenge, take a look at this Goffs Academy case study. Lean manufacturing processes means the academy is geared up to be energy efficient and low carbon in operation – for many years to come.
