Net Zero in Operation – A Welsh masterclass for sustainable school development
Data is the unlikely hero in this thought provoking technical feature by Building magazine focusing on ISG’s South Point Primary School project and the company’s enduring relationship with the Vale of Glamorgan council. Over a decade in the making, ISG has been transforming the Vale’s early years education provision, with a template design school model that has been iteratively improved through the use of post-occupancy data analysis to ultimately deliver the first Net Zero in Operation Welsh School.
Capturing the very essence of collaborative partnerships that foster innovation and support a continuous drive to optimise building performance for occupants and the environment, this article charts the journey from the Vale’s initial concept to build in a different way that reduces waste, costs and time – through to a potential challenge to the Welsh government’s ‘free access’ policy. Jane O’Leary, ISG’s sector director for education, also examines how this standardised and data-led approach opens up major opportunities for domestically based manufacturers to capitalise on a predictable demand-led market for key construction components.