Net Zero

All our non-domestic buildings need to be decarbonised to achieve Net Zero by 2045. This means moving away from a reliance on gas heating and hot water generation towards the use of cleaner technologies such as heat pumps, electric heating and heat networks, combined with energy efficiency upgrades to buildings.

Property Services are leading this programme of work, reviewing designs and providing contract administration services. The main contractor Alternative Heat was appointed on a Design and Build contract to deliver 5 low-carbon upgrades to schools across Fife.

These first five sites have been fitted with low-carbon heat sources in the form of air-source heat pumps. These include St Joseph’s RC Primary School, Carnock Primary School, Limekilns Primary School and Ceres Primary School all of which have been fully operational for a year now.  Carleton Primary School is due to be fitted with a new power supply from Scottish Power shortly and will then be commissioned. These sites are predicted to save approximately 200 tonnes of Carbon per year once the electricity grid is fully decarbonised and represent an investment of £1.45m in our school estate.

Controls in each building were upgraded and heating systems were optimised to deliver the most from the low-carbon heating solution. Existing gas boilers were retained as backup and top-up heat sources for the sites, although they will only operate for short periods during the heating season.

All the work was conducted during term time with the support of each school, the scale of the challenge to decarbonise all our buildings is so great that there simply isn’t enough time to complete all this work during holiday periods alone. We have proven that this work can be safely managed in an operational school setting and are building on the learning opportunities for pupils whose interest is peaked by the work happening in their playgrounds. We delivered interactive workshops at each school to teach the pupils about climate change and technology that can help to combat the climate challenge.

Details

Location: Fife wide

Value: £1.45m

Start Date: November 2022

End Date: September 2023

Main Contractor: Alternative Heat Ltd