RDATE:16062008

- Expert advisory task force to meet 2016 ambition announced -

The Government is taking the first steps to making every new school building zero carbon from 2016, Children's Secretary Ed Balls announced today.

Mr Balls confirmed that the highly respected architect Robin Nicholson will chair an expert task force to advise ministers. He also announced the group's formal terms of reference.

The Children's Plan, published last December, set out the Government's long-term ambition for all new school buildings in England to produce no carbon emissions at all from their day-to-day use within eight years.

The Zero Carbon Task Force, which meets today, will launch a call for evidence later this summer and report to ministers by the end of year on overcoming the technological and cost barriers.

Ed Balls said:

"We have already made significant steps to cutting carbon use in schools - backed by our unprecedented capital investment in schools, as well as other initiatives giving local authorities a statutory responsibility to cut car use on the school run.

"The Children's Plan goes a lot further and sets out our long-term goal that all new schools buildings should be zero-carbon from 2016.

"This will be the most ambitious design and building initiative the school system has ever faced. This expert task force drawn from the construction, sustainability and education sectors will help us overcome the technical, design and construction challenges over the next eight years.

"I don't have time for critics who will carp that this is impossible.

I know that current technology makes zero-carbon schools expensive and challenging to install on many existing school sites.

"The fact is that we have a clear moral responsibility to future generations to make it happen. We can no longer sit back and wait for the science to catch up with us - it would be a dereliction of duty if we did."

Robin Nicholson said:

"I'm delighted to chair the zero carbon task force. This is not going to be straightforward but if there is one sector that must show the way then it should be schools, at the heart of our communities, especially given the scale of the replacement programmes".

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Ministers have already taken significant steps to cutting energy use and low carbon generation in schools to be the norm:

* announced GBP110 million specifically to install cutting-edge carbon reduction and renewable energy technology in more than 200 secondary schools undergoing major refurbishment over the next three years - most as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme (BSF).

This was on top of the GBP21.9 billion capital investment in schools between 2008 and 2011, including GBP9.3 billion earmarked for BSF;

* introduced stricter design regulations meaning that energy use in new school buildings has already been slashed by 60 per cent on 2002 levels, thanks to stricter statutory regulations - which the Government is supporting with high-quality design guidance and advice;

* required all new school building projects to reach the "very good" standard on the internationally recognised independent BREEAM design assessment - which assess energy and water conservation, sustainable transport, low impact construction material use and biodiversity on school sites;

* developing a wider Carbon Management Strategy for the school system.

This work is at an early stage and the Government is working with the Sustainable Development Commission and others partners to test feasibility and develop a practical strategy to reduce carbon emissions across the sector; and

* published the Sustainable Development Action Plan - "Brighter Futures - Greener Lives" last month, with supporting delivery plans outlining energy and carbon reduction management.

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The Zero Carbon target and taskforce were first announced in the Children's Plan published in December 2007.

2. The Zero Carbon Task Force's formal terms of reference are:

Aim of the Task Force is to:

develop a roadmap to zero carbon for all new schools by 2016; supported by research, including setting out clear targets and milestones along the way;

make recommendations for the best way of implementing the roadmap in projects delivered through BSF (including Academies) and non- BSF projects;

identify any limits for energy efficiency for agreed school types and locations, i.e where it is agreed that zero carbon cannot be achieved;

identify exemplary developments, either existing (eg where low carbon energy infrastructures are in place) or planned (eg eco towns) and explore their potential for roll out;

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scope the potential for reducing carbon emissions in refurbishment projects;

This will require consideration of:

The cost, benefits and affordability of proposals, and potential impact on the capital programme;

A working definition of a zero carbon school which will include energy used to heat, cool and light the building, together with energy used to power equipment used within the school;

a mechanism to calculate the performance of a zero carbon school;

Available technologies and future potential for developing technologies to enable the target of 2016 to be met;

The opportunities provided by a zero carbon new building for teaching and learning.

The Task Force will NOT: Consider carbon emissions beyond those attributable to the energy used within the building;

Address broader educational and sustainable schools issues which are not related to reducing carbon emissions from new building or refurbishment.

Consider carbon savings through offset or other measures to link with schools overseas

The Task Force will aim to ensure that carbon reductions are met in an efficient and socially responsible way - to discourage measures to achieve zero carbon school buildings which pass the burden elsewhere.

3. Membership biographies

Robin Nicholson CBE RIBA Hon FIStructE (Chairman)

Robin Nicholson is Senior Practice Director of Edward Cullinan Architects, which he joined in 1979. Previously he had worked for James Stirling and taught at the Bartlett and North London Polytechnic Schools of Architecture. He was a Vice-President of the RIBA (1992-94), Chairman of the Construction Industry Council (1998 - 2000) and founder Board Member of the Movement for Innovation (1998 - 2001).

He sat on the DETR Urban Sounding Board (2001-03) and Egan Skills Task Force (2003-04). He has worked on a range of lower energy education buildings including the Greenwich Millennium School and Health Centre, the first phase of the UeL Docklands Campus and the new Digital Laboratory at the University of Warwick.

Currently he is CABE Commissioner (2002 - ), where he chairs the Enabling Programme and leads on Climate Change and Sustainability. He helped develop the Design Quality Indicator and DQI for schools and sits on the DQI development group. He is Convenor of the Construction Industry think-tank, The Edge (1996 - ). He was awarded a CBE for services to architecture in 1999 andan Honorary Fellowship of the Institution of Structural Engineers in 2002. Recently he has been appointed to the Board of the NHBC and chairs NHBC Services Ltd.

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Irena Bauman BA, BArch, RIBA

Irena Bauman founded Bauman Lyons in 1992, and has been involved in developing a wide range of projects. The practice is especially interested in mixed use, urban regeneration projects which tap into cultural creativity and aim to achieve new standards of sustainable development. The practice has been concerned with the mitigation and adoption to Climate Change since its conception in 1992.

Irena has also lead major studies concerning The Future Scenarios for Market Towns and the adoption and mitigation potential for cities of the rims areas around city centres. She is also CABE commissioner, CABE Champion for Yorkshire and Humber, Chair of CABE Regions Committee, design review panel member in Hull and in Sheffield.

Bill Bordass MA PhD Hon FRIBA Hon FCIBSE

Bill Bordass is a scientist who moved into buildings at the multi-skilled design practice RMJM London, where he became Associate in charge of building services, energy and environmental design. At William Bordass Associates, he studies building performance; and assists clients with briefing, project reviews, performance monitoring and troubleshooting. He was a member of the Probe team, which researched and published a series of twenty post-occupancy surveys of recently completed buildings.

Bill has been much involved in energy performance assessment and benchmarking, including Energy Consumption Guide 19 for offices.

Recently he has been working on issues related to building energy certification. This year he received CIBSE's low-carbon pioneer award

Bill is research adviser to the Usable Buildings Trust, a charity dedicated to improving building performance through better use of feedback, and which has been studying the performance of new schools.

Sally Brooks

Sally Brooks joined the Schools Capital and Building Division as Deputy Director in August 2003. Sally is responsible for overall schools capital strategy of over GBP6bn per year which includes the new Building Schools for the Future programme which is set to rebuild and renew all secondary schools to 21St Century standards, as well as the schools private finance investment programme and design standards for schools.

Prior to joining the Department for Children, Schools and Families, Sally worked for a range of London local authorities over a period of 15 years. Her areas of responsibility were initially in design and construction management and later expanded to include broader contract management, compulsory competitive tendering, best value and procurement. Most recently, Sally was brought in to set up the corporate procurement unit at Haringey Council and within 18 months received the highest Best Value assessment in the country. Previously, she held the position of head of property & contracts at Camden Local Education Authority. Sally started her career as an architect working in a number of organisations and finally specialised in education design at Islington Council where she spent a period of nine years.

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Simon Burton

Simon Burton is Regional Director of Faber Maunsell Sustainable Development Group London. Simon is an experienced buildings energy consultant who has worked in the areas of housing, non-domestic buildings and renewable energy for more than 25 years. He is SDG Director in charge of research projects and currently manages projects for the Carbon Trust, the EST and the European Commission. He has managed renewables work for DCFS including the manual "Use of Renewables in Schools" and the Biomass Schools Calculator. He recently worked on the Low and Zero Carbon input to the 2006 Building Regulations, was the director for the London Renewables Toolkit and worked on the Practice Guide for the Planning and Climate Change supplement to PPS1.

Lizzie Chatterjee

Lizzie Chatterjee is the senior policy adviser on sustainable buildings at the Sustainable Development Commission. Lizzie previously worked at Arup's integrated design office as a building services and environmental design engineer on a range of building and urban projects. In her current role, she leads on the SDC's advice to government departments on sustainable buildings policy. This varied role involves co-developing policy with government on an 'inside track' basis as well as auditing government progress towards sustainable development in key policy areas. Current areas of focus are housing, schools and health buildings and sustainable construction policy.

Peter Clegg MA(Cantab) MEnvD RIBA

Peter Clegg is a Senior Partner with Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, having established the practice with Richard Feilden in 1978. He is a Professor at the University of Bath and in September 2005 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Oxford Brookes University. He has almost 30 years' experience in low energy architecture and is actively involved in research and environmental design. He was appointed Chair of the South West Design Review Panel in August 2005, part of a new national initiative to provide expert reviews of development proposals.

Peter was the primary author of "Feilden Clegg Bradley: The Environmental Handbook" published in 2007, a substantial account of the practice's sustainable design experience over the last 30 years and a primer on the implementation of environmental best practice.

Andrew Cripps

Andrew Cripps is Associate Director at Buro Happold Ltd. Andrew leads the sustainability group at Buro Happold, engaging with a wide range of projects of all shapes and sizes. The work includes energy and sustainability strategies for buildings and masterplans, design for renewable energy systems, delivery of projects to meet BREEAM and other performance requirements, and advice on selection of materials.

His team includes a strong research element developing expertise on alternative technologies, and feeding back measured performance data into the design process. As well as contributing to the design of many schools, he led the delivery of the cardboard building at Westborough School, Westcliff on Sea, and has recently ended his term as a Parent Governor.

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Vic Ebdon MSc, MCIPS

Vic Ebdon is Head of Strategic Planning, Children & Young People's Services Directorate, with Devon County Council. After 10 years in engineering procurement followed by 20 years in construction and property development, Vic moved, in 2001, into the public sector.

Since then he has been a member of the PFI Project Team that deliveredthe Exeter Grouped Schools PFI Project and he was the Special Projects Manager responsible for planning the educational infrastructure for the two new Devon towns of Cranbrook and Sherford. Most recently, he was the BSF Project Director for the county's One School Pathfinder project. In 2007 Vic took over as the head of service, responsible in Devon for school organisation, school capital and Children and Young People's Services capital strategic planning.

Professor Andy Ford BSc CEng FCIBSE

Founding partner of the award winning practice Fulcrum Consulting in 1984 and responsible for the design of a number of ground breaking UK buildings with early work on low energy buildings on the UEA campus; including The Elizabeth Fry Building, notably still the lowest energy non domestic building in the UK and Brighton Library, the PFI project of the year and Prime Ministers Best Building award winner.

Andy's speciality lies within sustainable low energy design solutions for the built environment. He has extensive expertise in the design of buildings to achieve this and how to develop complimentary simple active building services. He is a Fellow of the CIBSE and serves on the managing board of this institute.

Andy chairs the Technical Committee of the UK Green Building Council, of which Fulcrum Consulting are founder members and is also a member of the EDGE.

His role in the company is now defined in his title 'Director Research to Reality' - the focus of which is the challenge of the changing climate.

Professor Brian Ford, Dip Arch, MA, RIBA

Professor Ford is an architect and environmental design consultant with 25 years experience in architectural practice and consultancy, both as a partner and with his own practice. He is currently Professor of Bioclimatic Architecture and Head of the School of the Built Environment at the University of Nottingham. He has specialised in the design of naturally ventilated and passively cooled buildings, including the Queens Building for De Montfort University, the Contact Theatre for Manchester University and the Lanchester Library at Coventry University. His experience in different parts of the world includes acting as consultant for the Sydney Olympic Stadium, Australia; Pittsburgh Convention Center, USA; Torrent Research Laboratories, India; the Malta Stock Exchange, as well as theatres, offices and school buildings. His educational building experience includes the refurbishment of a number of system built Schools in Hampshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

Mairi Johnson

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Mairi Johnson is the Interim Director of the Enabling Programme at CABE. The programme provides technical advice and support to client organisations who are devising regeneration and masterplanning projects, as well as new buildings. The advice covers all demand-side issues that have an impact on design and focuses on how to achieve good quality places and urban spaces. The Better Public Buildings team is working on a number of key areas where there is considerable public expenditure eg. Healthcare, Building Schools for the Future and the Olympics. The Urban Design and Homes team works on housing-led masterplans and areas under going large-scale change such as the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders and New Growth Points. This engagement in a multitude of projects allows both teams to draw out best practice lessons and to have an insight into the barriers that prevent design quality from happening on the ground. Mairi coordinates all of this work and also ensures the lessons from the Enabling programme are integrated into CABE's research projects and work with central government.

Dr Stephen Lucey

Dr Stephen Lucey joined Becta (British Educational Communications and Technology Agency) in May 2000 and now holds the post of Executive Director for Strategic Technologies. In this role he has responsibility for the strategic development of the National Digital Infrastructure for education leading on technical and procurement strategy. He has also been responsible for leading Becta's ground-breaking work on Total Cost of Ownership issues in education.

George Martin

George Martin is Head of Sustainable Development with Willmott Dixon Construction, a company aiming to deliver sustainable buildings for all sectors.

George is also a Non-Executive Director of The Academy for Sustainable Communities, an Associate of the UK's leading sustainable development charity Forum for the Future, Chair of the Sustainable Development Foundation and a Board member of the UK Green Building Council. George has been a member of a number of government Task Forces.

Jon Mussett

Jon Mussett is Head of Building Design Consultancy, Building Research Establishment. BRE is a leading research and consultancy organisation delivering innovation and sustainability across the built environment.

BRE's Building Design Consultancy team of architects, building services engineers and occupational psychologists provides design guidance, client and technical advice, and post occupancy evaluation for schools, university, heathcare and commercial buildings, specialising in sustainability. Jon has a broad background in sustainable development and the built environment with experience in construction, education and consultancy projects for private and government clients.

Mukund Patel

Mukund Patel is Chief Officer for GEMS Education. Before joining GEMS, Mukund was, for 11 years, Head of Schools Capital (Assets) at the Department for Children Schools and Families where he was responsible for advising on educational buildings including development of inspirational and exciting school buildings, standards of school buildings, sustainability issues and the cost of school buildings. He was responsible for developing ideas and vision for schools of the future. His team developed Exemplar Designs and also run innovative programme like Project Faraday, Classrooms of the Future, City Learning Centres, etc.

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Mukund was the Chairman of OECD Programme for Education Buildings based in Paris from 2003 to 2008, and from 2004 to 2006 was President of the Society of Chief Architects in Local Authorities. He has also been President of Society of Chief Engineers in Local Government and was a member of Governments Urban Green Spaces task force. He is a Trustee of the Learning through Landscapes. At GEMS Mukund is responsible for establishing new schools in Middle East, India and South Africa, with particular emphasis on providing sustainable buildings with state of art facilities and excellent teaching and learning environments for pupils and teachers.

Justin Slater

Justin is Policy & Programme Director with Partnerships for Schools (PfS). Justin joined PfS from the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) as Policy & Programme Director in 2004. He has responsibility for allocating GBP3 billion per annum to the strategic renewal of the schools secondary estate and ensuring that value for money is achieved from this investment.

Deb Thomas

Deb Thomas has worked in Arup Building Engineering since graduating in 1988, becoming a Director in 2006. Deb is a chartered structural engineer who has been involved with a wide range of projects, both in the UK and overseas. She has a particular interest in the design and delivery of buildings in the public sector including schools, colleges, universities and libraries. Projects include St Paul's School, London and John Madejski Academy, Reading. Deb is increasingly involved in sustainable building projects and has a working knowledge of the different forms of renewable energy and their potential applications for different projects.

CONTACT: Public enquiries, Department for Children, Schools and Families Tel: +44 (0)870 000 2288 e-mail: info@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk WWW: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk

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