I was delighted to read about the steps being taken at Ashley primary school (26 March, page 48)
As chairman of the Zero Carbon Task Force for Schools, my visit to Ashley confirmed that the means of achieving low or zero-carbon is first behavioural and only then technical. The school’s experience supported our adoption of Bill Bordass’ mantra: “Halve demand, double efficiency and halve carbon in the supply and you are down to one eighth of the emissions.”
While the inspired leadership of the head and the support of the board of governors was a necessary precondition, it is the pupils who ran the show and helped to cut the school’s electricity use 51% in the first year; and then they took the lessons home. It is no wonder that Ashley won the 2009 Ashden Award for sustainable energy.
In the same issue (page 20) you rate the propositions in Paul Morrell’s excellent Low Carbon Construction interim report but it is Ashley school that convinced me that our children and grandchildren are an essential part of any low carbon transition.
Robin Nicholson, Edward Cullinan Architects
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