Are we entering a new era of Passivhaus construction in the education sector?

As recently reported by Construction Wave, the Department for Education (DfE) has launched its new Construction Framework 25 (CF25). This replaces the existing framework, which expires in November 2025 and will provide selected teams with the opportunity to bid on projects that have an overall estimated value of £15.4 billion, or £18.5 billion if you include VAT.

CF25 covers a range of education projects, including new builds and refurbishments, and spans schools, colleges, universities and community facilities and public buildings ancillary to education facilities. The framework and funding forms part of the DfE’s ongoing commitment to providing educational buildings that are fit for purpose for teaching and learning. The Department works extensively to achieve this aim through numerous different schemes. Better still, the DfE’s focus on education estate goes well beyond building safety and maintenance to also tackle climate change – it’s with this in mind that CF25 presents an opportunity for new projects to embrace Passivhaus principles.

Sustainable design

Passivhaus is a voluntary technical standard that provides an externally certified design and construction process that delivers low energy buildings. It adopts a whole-building approach based on clear, measured targets for a building’s energy performance, airtightness and thermal comfort. Practically, this can involve design and specification considerations that create an airtight building envelope, minimise heat loss through thermal bridges, optimise insulation and utilise heat recovery systems.

As well as being an energy performance standard, Passivhaus is also a comfort standard, with certified buildings providing high standards of indoor air quality and thermal comfort. This is in addition to lower energy costs and carbon emissions. The principles of the standard align strongly with the DfE’s Climate and Sustainability Strategy, which includes an action area for all new school buildings to be net zero in operation.

The DfE has a policy for green, sustainable education estates that are resilient to climate change and inspire young people to live more sustainable lives. Passivhaus certified education buildings can help to make this a reality. They can also support teaching and learning by creating a more comfortable and healthy indoor environment. However, despite these many positive factors, Passivhaus certified education building are still few and far between in the UK.

The Passivhaus Trust in the UK reports that there are over 28 certified Passivhaus schools and educational schemes, with 43 under construction or awaiting certification. To provide some context for these numbers, a House of Commons Committee report (19 Nov 2023) highlighted that in January 2023 there were 21,600 state schools in England, accounting for 64,000 buildings.

It’s also worth considering the progression of the DfE’s School Rebuilding Programme (SRP). There are 518 projects listed in the SRP, with a delivery rate of approximately 50 projects per year. Such a rate of rebuilding suggests, conservatively, that there should be much more than 43 Passivhaus education buildings in the pipeline. The DfE and wider education sector are embracing sustainability, from learning, through to the day-to-day running of premises, but are missing an opportunity to adopt Passivhaus principles.

Consultation and collaboration

Improving the uptake of the Passivhaus Standard during the design and building of education projects requires close consultation and collaboration from the outset of tendering. This is often missed, as project tendering involves numerous different organisations and people, and can become fragmented. Multiple different parties will each have different goals, whether it’s the management of costs, building performance requirements or the specification and supply of certain materials. Bringing these goals together can, understandably, be tough, especially when there are time pressures. Collaboration though proves crucial to sharing knowledge and having more informed conversations about what’s possible.

The recent Passivhaus design and certification of Thornhill School – a first-of-its-kind project in Bedfordshire – is a good example of collaboration in practice. The school expanded from a one-form to a three-form entry through the addition of a new building. Key members of school staff were actively involved from the early stages of the design process, helping to clearly articulate different challenges, opportunities and objectives. This inspired conversations about energy performance, thermal comfort, the layout of buildings and movement of pupils, as well the importance of making the new building part of the learning experience. Sustainability and tackling climate change is part of Thornhill’s lessons and the new design and construction needed to reflect this.

Thornhill’s new building is arranged around a central playground, overlooked by circulation spaces and a new access deck. This deck wraps the entire two-storey section of the building, providing valuable breakout space for smaller group learning, connecting teaching with the outside. At the building’s heart there is a double-height entrance atrium and split-level library/ICT facility, adjacent to the new sports/dining hall. Facilities are centralised, which promotes active learning.

The principles of circular economy were followed within the design, with materials (specifically Cross-Laminated Timber) selected for their low embodied carbon, and their possible future reuse and recyclability. School staff continued to be involved throughout the design process, with fortnightly on-site project team meetings, accompanied by key design team members as required.

A high quality, Passivhaus certified building was created for Thornhill School. This is exceeding the school’s sustainability targets and design aspirations, while post-occupancy evaluation and feedback from teachers shows a positive impact on pupils’ learnings.

There’s an opportunity for CF25 tendering to encourage greater consultation and collaboration. This could help inspire conversations and awareness about Passivhaus as a solution for meeting the education sector’s ambitions for low carbon, low-cost estates.

This article was written by Euan Durston, regional director and Passivhaus designer at ECD Architects. The opinions and views expressed therein are therefore of the author alone.