With many of their buildings dating back to the 1970’s and student numbers continuing to rise, many of our schools are looking to increase or improve their facilities. However, the implications of doing so are often high costs, disruption to student life and damage to the school site.
Traditionally constructed school buildings can involve months of preparation and on-site activity, making ‘business as usual’ extremely hard to achieve. In terms of the student experience during this time, their educational environment is likely to be impacted in the following ways:
- Noise disruption from vehicles & machinery
- Increased safety risks when moving around school site
- Congestion on site and around entrance / exits
- Reduced access to school facilities
- Increased pollution – carbon emissions from vehicles
The limitations that these will place on school life, and the disruption to timetables, may be a prohibiting factor in schools making necessary improvements. Schools are under increasing pressure to perform, and anything that has the potential to impact negatively on the student experience could be costly in terms of results and reputation.
Reducing negative impact
NetZero buildings are designed and built using a modern, modular construction (MMC) model. They are manufactured off-site and can be assembled on-site in a matter of days. This immediately addresses many of the above issues: the reduction in impact to student life being just one of the many benefits our educational buildings offer.
Choosing a NetZero building for your school, when compared to traditional builds, means a reduction of 90% on-site traffic – reducing congestion, disruption and pollution accordingly. The dramatically reduced construction time may also mean that improvements to school facilities become a viable option, benefitting students now and for the future.
Reaping the Rewards
Our buildings can be constructed from standard module classroom blocks, or created from bespoke designs, e.g. for sports facilities, theatres or dining areas. Whichever the case, the benefits experienced by the school and students continue long after installation.
NetZero buildings are airtight, offering a two-way advantage of heat retention (90% of heat is recycled) and reduced air pollution. This, coupled with an air filtering system, means students enjoy a clean, healthy learning environment.
Your school will also feel the benefit of significantly reduced running costs: solar panels covering the roof area generate enough energy to supply the building itself, and often enough to run other buildings too.
Enhanced student experience
Student experience is at the heart of all our educational buildings, which are designed to provide a space for optimum learning and concentration. Removing the disruption, and reducing the timescale associated with traditional builds, means schools can quickly and cost-effectively improve their facilities.
This is a truly modern approach to building schools for the future, putting into practice all that we teach the next generation about sustainability and reducing our impact on the environment, and creating a better student life.
To talk to us about how we can help your school reduce costs and improve efficiency, please do not hesitate to contact us.
