Worcestershire County Council
June 2010
- UK
- Built environment
- Heatwave
- Heavy rain
Redevelopment of a primary school included a climate change impact assessment.
Main messages
Applying a climate impact assessment at the design stage can help to sustainable, low maintenance, attractive educational buildings.
In detail
Motivation
Worcestershire County Council is a member of the Sustainability West Midlands Climate Change Partnership and through this association the council has access to climate change impact science, experts (e.g. UKCIP), tools and techniques.
Enthusiastic team.
Main players & partners
- Properties Team, Worcestershire County Council
- UK Climate Impacts Programme
- Sustainability West Midlands.
Process
The £2.7 million Red Hill School project involved a replacement primary school on the site of the former 1960s building. Robert Lewin-Jones, a Principal Architect at the council, piloted the UKCIP Adaptation Wizard to assess the impacts of climate change on the new school at the design stage and develop an adaptation strategy.
This strategy was applied to the design and construction phases of the building and throughout its design life. The priority risks identified in the strategy were:
- Higher rainfall in winter, more intense periods, driving rain
- Milder winters
- Hotter drier summers
- Increased wind speeds/extreme storms
Outcomes
The school is a low carbon building that is more likely to able to cope with climate change to maintain a comfortable and robust teaching environment over its lifetime.
Some of the adaptation features integrated into the school to help it to withstand climate change impacts include:
- a sustainable urban drainage scheme using swales, ponds and underground box storage
- a rainwater harvesting scheme, used for flushing toilets, takes rain from approximately half the roof area. Other roof areas have a planted roof finish (sedum) to reduce run-off
- extra shade for pupils and teachers, provided by overhanging eaves and external canopies to the classrooms
- zinc sheet roof coverings, with standing seams, that may be less vulnerable to high winds than roofing tiles.
The school’s design won the Green Apple Awards 2007 for the Built Environment and Architectural Heritage.
Analysis
Strengths
The school is a low carbon building that is able to cope with climate change to maintain a comfortable and robust teaching environment over its lifetime.
