600-year-old grammar school joins modern-day net zero story

Royal Latin School in Buckinghamshire continues its net zero journey following a green grant

An ambitious decarbonisation project spearheaded by a renowned school has been showcased in a new video we’ve produced.

Our two-minute video features the Buckinghamshire-based Royal Latin School’s journey towards a net zero future. Watch our short video to hear more from headteacher David Hudson and premises manager Andy Downing.

Having recently celebrated its 600th anniversary, the grammar school supports 1,300 pupils and has always prided itself on its strong sustainability focus and making a positive difference to the planet.

The school’s decarbonisation journey began back in 2014 when it relocated its science department to a state-of-the-art building called the Discovery Centre. Solar panels were installed atop the building, demonstrating the vision towards a more sustainable future was already underway.

Since then, the school has worked to continue its decarbonisation journey and was a successful recipient of £268,000 in grant funding as part of Phase 1 of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. We deliver funding for this scheme on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Funding from this phase paved the way for the installation of several carbon reducing technologies including solar photovoltaic panels, LED lighting, solar battery storage and roof insulation. 

Its previously rotten, single-glazed and wooden framed windows for the main office block were replaced with triple glazed UPVC ones. During the removal process, newspapers from the 1930s were found which had been used as stuffing to keep the cold out.

To support it to continue to build upon these measures, which made the school significantly more energy efficient, the Royal Latin School applied to Phase 2 of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. A further £282,000 awarded through this phase allowed it to make further upgrades, this time to its dated heating system, by installing two air source heat pumps.

In addition to these works, the school financially contributed towards the scheme, allowing it to install energy efficient radiators, enabling the school to lower its energy savings by over £5,000 annually. Annual carbon emissions have also been slashed by 37 tonnes.

Ahmed Ali, communications officer at Salix commented that “It’s wonderful to witness the Royal Latin School’s commitment to decarbonisation, delivering various energy-saving and low carbon heating technologies. The school is a great example of how smaller public sector organisations can strive to achieve net-zero.”

The school has multiple ongoing sustainability initiatives in place such as a cycle to work scheme with extra cycle racks having been added to further incentivise this commuting option and two electric charging points for staff and visitors.

The school is determined to set an example in the region with its sustainability initiatives and it is estimated that over 70% of staff and pupils travel to the school by either walking, cycling or using public transport.

The Royal Latin School was one of nine organisations interviewed in a 36-minute documentary celebrating progress towards a net zero public sector in England.

Thank you to the Royal Latin School and David Hudson for participating in this work.

You can watch the full documentary on our YouTube channel.