Top-down assessment of the energy performance of the English school stock: National trends and analysis of school rebuilding programmes

To reach the legal target of net zero by 2050, the UK Department for Education (DfE) is responding to this challenge by retrofitting existing buildings and designing new buildings to reduce carbon emissions. Assessing and reporting on the operational energy performance of these rebuilding programs can help to further inform and drive evidence-based decarbonisation initiatives. This study utilises the Display Energy Certificate (DEC) dataset and the Get Information About Schools (GIAS) dataset to create a combined database, aiming to analyse and compare the energy usage of school buildings constructed under two school rebuilding programs: Building Schools for the Future (BSF) and the Priority School Building Program (PSBP). It also investigates the latest energy consumption of English primary and secondary school buildings and trends over the period 2018 to 2023, specifically the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on energy use. Additionally, it explores the energy consumption patterns of school buildings when using different types of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and main heating fuels. A total of 13,569 schools are covered, representing approximately 69% of primary schools and 58% of secondary schools in England. This study found that the energy performance of the higher-cost BSF schools is not only inferior to that of lower-cost PSBP schools but also lags behind the remaining school building stock. There are differences in both fossil thermal energy and electricity consumption between primary and secondary school buildings. Furthermore, variations in building characteristics can contribute to differences in energy use patterns. This study can inform the quantification of energy performance in various sectors and guide the development of future energy upgrade measures and emission reduction policies.