Baxi research suggests schools strongly support heat decarbonisation
A survey conducted by Baxi of 200 state school estates managers, consultant engineers and M&E contractors has found that while enthusiasm for Net Zero and support for low carbon heating systems in schools is thriving, persistent barriers remain.
The survey found extremely strong support for Net Zero within schools, with 90% of estates managers who responded agreeing that Net Zero is a priority, a sentiment echoed by 78% of consultant engineers and contractors. 99% of the school estates managers surveyed reported having a Net Zero plan in place. Experience and satisfaction with low carbon heating systems within schools was also high, with 95% of school estates managers having replaced a fossil fuel boiler with a heat pump in their buildings previously. 97% of all school estates managers (87% of all respondents) viewed heat pump performance and operating costs favourably.
Despite the strong support for low carbon heating and Net Zero in schools, the study also uncovered significant challenges faced by respondents when opting to install a low carbon heating system. The most prominent was technical difficulty as a barrier to deployment. With 36% and 39% of school estates managers and consultant engineers and contractors respectively identifying the challenge, there may be a skills gap which can stall decarbonisation projects.
Both groups also agreed that additional electricity capacity needed for low carbon heating solutions was a challenge, with 36% of consultant engineers and contractors outlining this as a barrier to decarbonisation.
School estates managers identified other core challenges, including the financial and technical feasibility of school heating system changes, infrastructure requirements and the length of project timelines as any major refurbishment projects are typically restricted to the fixed window of time of the summer holiday period.
