School in North clinches UK first for energy efficiency

A newly-built primary school has scored a major environmental success by becoming the first building in the UK to be awarded an A-grade for energy efficiency.

The £2m (€2.5m) Victoria Primary in Ballyhalbert, Co Down, the the North, which has just opened its doors, was designed and built by local contractor Graham and has a host of environmentally-friendly features including toilets flushed by rainwater, electricity generated by sunlight and its own biomass boiler.

It was announced today the school has got the UK’s first top grade under the new Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) scheme.

Soon all buildings in Northern Ireland will be required to have an EPC when they are constructed or before they can be marketed for sale or rent.

The certificate will explain how energy-efficient the building is and what impact it is having on the environment through CO2 emissions.

Buildings will be scored on a scale of A-G – with A the most efficient. The average UK rating of a domestic property is E on the scale.

At Victoria Primary School just under 500,000 litres of water a year will be saved through toilets being flushed by rain water.

The biomass boiler – the first to be installed in a newly-built school in Northern Ireland – will heat the building using locally-grown wood pellets.

Keith Patrick, project manager for Graham, said they had been involved in a range of innovative construction projects in the UK and Ireland and were constantly looking at ways of improving the design and construction of buildings.

“With Victoria Primary School we have adopted highly sustainable design features that will not only save the school money but have less impact on the environment.”

The company – which is building itself a new £10m (€12.7m) eco-friendly HQ outside Hillsborough to showcase its technology – has also included very high levels of insulation in the school and photovoltaic cells to generate electricity from sunlight.

Mr Patrick said: “In addition, the building has been air pressure-tested to identify any leakage path where heat could escape. The quality of the construction was such that we achieved a test figure more than twice as good as that required by the building regulations.”

School principal Alison Campbell said they were happy to embrace new technology and be seen as an innovator.

“We are especially proud to be the first building in Northern Ireland to receive an Energy Performance Certificate.

“This is quite an achievement when you think of all the construction that is taking place and all new buildings, whether houses, offices etc, will have to get such a certificate.”

Ms Campbell said the school building would help the children learn about protecting the environment.

She said: “The environmentally-friendly aspects of the building create a great learning atmosphere for all, and educate the children and parents of how important it is to think about what impact we have on the environment.”