Green Investment Fund

A COMMITMENT TO OUR ENVIRONMENT

Much of our current site was developed by Frederick Heppenstall, Sir Francis Powell and those who led the School in the late nineteenth century. As the baton passes to us to assume the responsibility for an historic infrastructure, we must do so with consideration for our environment.

Our buildings consume vast amounts of energy on a daily basis, with the greatest consumers being our ageing boarding houses which are in use 24/7 during term time. Across the School we currently use over 8m kWhs of gas and nearly 2m k Whs of electricity. At current prices, this costs over £650,000 a year, but could increase to nearly £1m. Future price hikes will affect us all and the School must be in a position to make savings where possible.

A recent energy use survey commissioned by the School found that upgrading our lighting, insulation, glazing and heating systems would reduce our energy bill dramatically and also improve the overall efficiency of our operations.

As we teach our pupils the importance of acting responsibly towards the planet we have inherited in our lifetime, so we must lead by example and actively demonstrate this pledge to our communities and our competitors.

Our society is looking to find solutions to the global climate problem, and we must play our part to signal that heritage buildings can be carefully conserved, improved and lead the way for the future

Creating a Green Investment Fund to cut our carbon emissions significantly by 2025.

We believe this to be one of the most ambitious green campaigns pledged by a UK independent school. This fund will improve our energy efficiency across our buildings and Houses by upgrading heating, insulation and ventilation and invest in the latest technologies for a greener built environment.

We will also investigate creating our own energy supplies to provide electricity to our buildings, investing in a fleet of electric minibuses and also providing new electric car charging points to encourage our Sedberghian families and visitors to travel sustainably.