We initially undertook a full review of the school’s existing buildings and utility records to develop an understanding of its current use and service provision. This exercise helped establish a number of simple optimisation measures to enable the school to implement changes to its existing operational habits and controls, resulting in efficiency savings. JGC also undertook thermal modelling of the existing buildings to better understand their peak heat demand and how it compares with the current servicing strategy.

Following the initial survey and reporting activities, JGC developed outline proposals for each building to enable the replacement of existing fossil-fuel-based heating systems with alternative low-carbon heat sources. For more complex buildings in older parts of the school, alternative options for replacing centralised and decentralised heating systems were presented to help the school understand the available options and the implications of each. Alongside this optioneering assessment, JGC undertook a review of the building’s thermal performance to identify opportunities to further improve thermal efficiency and to quantify the thermal benefits of fabric improvements as part of a wider retrofit approach. JGC also provided an assessment for the potential on-site PV generation capacity across the school’s estate.