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SUSTAINABILITY - BUILDING OUR FUTURE: SCOTLAND'S SCHOOL ESTATE

2. THE GLENCOE WORKSHOP

1. As outlined in Section 1 above, there is no set way of designing a sustainable building, and there are many views and misconceptions regarding what makes a building sustainable.

2. In July 2004, the Scottish Executive hosted a workshop at Glencoe Visitor Centre on sustainable schools. The workshop brought together key stakeholders to raise awareness about the principles of sustainability, and how they can be implemented effectively. Three practitioners offered their individual perspective on the subject and it is these contributions that feature in this section.

3. Our contributors are:

Professor Howard Liddell, Gaia Architects
John Easton, The Parr Partnership (Architects)
Brian Hemming, Highland Council

4. Since July the Scottish Executive has participated in a study tour of sustainable school buildings in Germany. The outcomes of this study tour will form the basis of a future publication. In addition a number of case studies illustrating aspects of sustainable designs in Scottish schools have been identified and are provided in this document. Incorporating sustainable development into the school estate in Scotland will continue to form a central part of the Scottish Executive's priorities over coming years.

HOWARD LIDDELL: TOWARDS A STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABLE SCHOOLS IN SCOTLAND

Howard Liddell has been an Ecological Design Architect for 30 years and Principal of Gaia Architects since 1983. He is the only Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) four star accredited sustainable design architect in Scotland and has been the RIAS Spokesperson on Sustainability since 1991. An academic from 1970 until 1981, Howard was Director of the Alternative Technology Group at the University of Hull (1974-79). He was Chair of the Royal Incorporation of British Architects (RIBA) Architecture and Ecology Group from 1974-79 and Professor of Building Ecology in Oslo from 1979-83.

He is also the winner of many architectural awards - notably the International award for Sustainability for Glencoe Visitor Centre in 2002 and World Habitat Award for Fairfield Housing Co-op in 2003.

Introduction - the slow take up

5. Twelve years after the Rio UN Conference on Sustainability, when the UK signed up to the full Brundtland agenda, why are Sustainable and Healthy buildings not yet being delivered?

Is it that people don't care?

6. This is still surprisingly true in the UK by comparison with other European countries. Here it is still not "cool" to be green compared with the view in most areas of middle and northern Europe. Even in Scotland, which has a slightly greener reputation than England, there are still more green policies than green buildings.

Is it that people claim not to know what 'it' (Sustainable Development) is, or have too simplistic a view of what 'it' is?

7. For example, there is a view that sustainable development is all about energy - and therefore mostly about energy supply - and the most high profile opportunity is with solar (photovoltaic) cells. So that should do the trick... and with one bound our hero is free to get on with other things.

Is the 'problem' due to misinformation?

8. There has been a tendency for UK product manufacturers to "greenwash" existing products rather than audit and change them. There is also a tendency to persist with products banned or phased out elsewhere in Europe (e.g. PVC, formaldehyde glue and fibreglass stranded insulation), perhaps due to familiarity.

Is there a lack of tenacity to see it through?

9. The delivery of a green building is often achieved at the cost of significant determination and rigour. The green baton can be dropped at any point in the procurement cycle and is particularly vulnerable in the handover from one party to the next.

The Green Baton

Product or Process?

10. A green building regarded in isolation is a product, whereas Sustainable development is a process. For example, a truly green building can be handed over from a green architect/a green contractor say, on a Tuesday and yet it can be undermined or even trashed by the Thursday. Sustainable development on the other hand, is a partnership between the building and all its stakeholders over time from the cradle to the grave.

So, what is 'it' (Sustainable Development)?

The big agenda

11. Sustainable development is very comprehensive and touches all aspects of the way we now inhabit the built environment and its hinterland. It is actually about substituting every aspect of the way we operate that is unsustainable and replacing it with something that is sustainable.

12. Whilst every one can trip off the tongue, the triple bottom line ('tripos') of the environmental, the economic and the social aspects, it is unusual in real experience to find much evidence of the application of this - other than a predominance of the importance of price (as distinct from value). The challenge is huge, fundamental and wide-ranging through many, many aspects in all three areas of concern, and not just individually, but also interactively - holistically.

3-Legged Stool

Key Performance Indicators

13. In order to ensure that we are actually delivering buildings at handover which
will thrive beyond this, we require a full range of Key Performance Indicators in all three sectors of this tripos, with monitoring over time.

The Myth of additional costs

Price versus value

14. Even if one takes the obsession with price at face value, there are still hurdles to jump in terms of the perception that green buildings cost more. In the hands of an accredited sustainable design architect, green buildings can be delivered at little or no extra capital cost. This is particularly true in the case of buildings that adopt a passive design approach. There are excellent examples of this, not just in Norway and Germany, (where the Scottish Executive has participated in study visits in the past two years), but also closer to home.

Less is more

15. There is also best practice in Scotland. For example, the Glencoe Visitor Centre has a building services content of 9.2% (by cost) based on 'traditional' equipment installed, compared with between 25-30% for an equivalent conventionally serviced building. So in this case, there is a trade off between the reduced services requirement and higher quality fabric.

Some Costs of Gaia Buildings

	Delivered @ 875/m2 Benchmark @ 950/m 2 McLaren Centre
	Delivered @ 780/m2 Benchmark equivalent for housing Tollhouse Gardens
	Delivered @ 980/m2 Benchmark @ 1200/m 2 Glencoe Visitor Centre

Norway Study Tour 2003

16. In 2002 news filtered across the North Sea that schools in Norway (winter design temperature -20 ^oC) were being built without significant amounts of heating and ventilation infrastructure. The theory that the children themselves were a significant heating source, and that this combined with a high thermal mass building would be sufficient to meet heating requirements was intriguing. It was also evident that natural ventilation via constant underground temperature culvert systems was being used successfully. A schools study tour of south Norway was set up for May 2003 and a number of passive design schools were visited.

17. Discussions on the tour focussed on a number of issues:

• design for the future - flexible spaces - and flexible curriculum;
• high emphasis on good indoor air quality and health;
• concern about method of procurement and maintaining the green agenda when any novation was involved;
• there seemed to be a sense of a society that had strong values that were communicated through the schools;
• all the buildings gave an impression of trying to contribute to the community - some more explicitly than others;
• schools as a resource - for community, culture and social skills as well as teaching and learning;
• learning as adventure.

18. However, the key question is what green aspects are transferable to the Scottish context? It can be said in general terms that at least 50% would transfer quite readily, 25% with more difficulty and the rest unlikely. ²⁴

Background to sick buildings

19. The 2003 study tour of Norway and the 2004 tour of Germany are motivated by a drive to find best practice examples of healthy and sustainable schools for Scotland.

20. Scotland has the highest incidence of asthma in the world at 18% of the population (37% of 13-14 year olds). Asthma is the leading cause of admission of children into hospital and the leading cause of days of absence from school ²⁵. As much as 20% of the population spend part of their day inside education buildings, and research by the Asthma Council has identified that indoor climate is a very significant factor in triggering asthma and allergic reactions ²⁶.

21. These daunting statistics come at a time when findings on Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) in 63 recently completed Scottish schools has found that the satisfaction rating in the key factors of Indoor Environmental Quality of lighting, heating and ventilation were all less than 9% of those interviewed ²⁷.

22. Given that we now have clear evidence of the effects of IEQ on health, absenteeism and performance, the need for the design and construction of healthy schools is now pressing.

23. The following are some recent findings relating to IEQ in schools in the USA:

• a study of 22,000 students in 2000 classrooms in California showed that students in classrooms that were well daylit progressed 20% faster in maths and 26% faster in reading than students with poor daylighting;
• a study in Illinois found that 20% of teachers were averaging 4 days sick leave per year due to IEQ problems;
• the Illinois study also found improved attendance of 5% after incorporating cost effective IEQ improvements;
• a study in Chicago and Washington DC found improved IEQ added 3-4 % to standardised test scores.

Equivalent studies in the UK are now emerging with similar findings.

Towards Healthy Buildings

Materials specification

24. At the end of the 19th century there were not many more than 50 materials in regular use in building. By the end of the 20th century there were more than 50,000, and this is increasing on a logarithmic growth rate. Benchmark studies in 1964 and 1984 indicated that the growth in levels of use of toxic materials in buildings only really started in earnest in the late 1960's. However, we now have a situation where, whilst the individual material toxicity levels are alarming, only 43% of chemicals have been tested for potential human toxicity, and only 7% have been tested for their effect on children's development. The potential cocktail effect of these materials together is quite simply impossible to assess. The only reasonable response to this is one of mitigation - i.e. the specification of only low emission and benign materials - i.e. adopting the precautionary principle.

Toxic Materials

Relative humidity and moisture

25. Whilst building materials and indoor finishes are a major contributor to Sick Building Syndrome, these chemical triggers are only part of the story. The biological threats in buildings come primarily from mould and dust mites which thrive on the kind of airtight and warm indoor environment which we are pursuing with ever increasing zeal in the interests of energy conservation. Without a strategy for dealing effectively with moisture, and especially the relative humidity levels, such a strategy is merely trading off one set of problems (energy and fuel poverty) for another (allergy and asthma). The response to this challenge in seeking to provide a healthy and energy efficient built environment is to ensure that the fabric of the building and its associated ventilation strategy can deal with moisture effectively, and preferably - like the Norwegian approach - based on passive design methods, using such things as thermal mass, moisture mass, breathing walls, dynamic insulation, culvert and natural ventilation.

A Relative Humidity

JOHN EASTON: PPP SCHOOLS - PROCUREMENT & OPERATION

John Easton is an architect working in commercial private practice. He has worked for The Parr Partnership in Glasgow since 1990 and has been involved in PPP schools since the mid-nineties, starting with the Falkirk Schools PFI, the UK's first multi-site PFI schools project. John has extensive knowledge of sustainability best practice, which he used and combined with his experience of the education sector to provide Green Business Advice under The Lighthouse's Sust programme for East Dunbartonshire Council's PPP School Campus project.

Introduction

26. This contribution arises from a study carried out by The Parr Partnership Architects in the spring of 2004 ²⁸ for East Dunbartonshire Council's Public Private Partnership (PPP) Schools Campus programme, and was presented subsequently at the Scottish Executive's School Estate Workshop at Glencoe in July 2004.

The audience

27. This advice is intended to support councils and their technical advisors primarily during the early definition stages of a PPP project. However, the information set out here will also be of interest to designers, PPP consortia, and the greater supply chain to enable the delivery of continuous improvements in sustainable, environmental and business performance in both the PPP sector and all construction projects regardless of the procurement route.

The aim

28. This advice was prepared with the following key objectives:

• to embed knowledge and inform the core development team about sustainable design and specifically in relation to schools;
• to develop a framework to ensure that all relevant issues are addressed with the brief;
• to provide advice on green procurement methods, including supply chain efficiencies and partnership arrangements with local manufacturers, suppliers, and services;
• to propose green housekeeping methods to ensure that the design and construction team optimise their approach to sustainable design in terms of designing-out waste and pollution, and designing for minimum resource use.

A two-stage approach

29. The core advice that follows takes the form of practical actions that councils and consortia can consider in support of the delivery of continuous improvements in terms of sustainable performance over the lifespan of their school estate. There is a useful checklist on the Sust website ²⁹, which follows broadly the sequence and structure of the procurement process, from inception to completion of the construction phase, and through operation to the eventual conclusion of the PPP contract and beyond. A model policy is included at the end of this contribution to assist councils in establishing strategic sustainability targets for a PPP project. A list of references and resources is also included in Section 4 to support councils for the preparation of an Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) and both councils and consortia for the preparation of output specifications and environmental management systems.

30. In order to explore the full potential for sustainable practice with PPP Schools, the East Dunbartonshire Council study specifically disregarded the constraints on best practice that are imposed by the current terms of the model PPP agreement. In addition, the implications for sustainability of EU procurement rules were referred to only in general terms.

The context

31. When PPP procurement was first introduced in the UK, some saw it as an opportunity to take a holistic approach to estate development that could deliver better value for money and support the practical implementation of local and national sustainable development objectives. In reality the results have been mixed, but practical application suggests that more can be done to achieve the full potential of PPP:

• the aim should be to motivate private financial capital to support public projects and to capture intellectual capital (the know how) of the private sector to deliver performance improvements;
• the key is to take the longer-term view;
• a framework should be established for continuous improvement and embedded in contract requirements.

By these means it is possible to achieve a sustainable school estate.

Harness the potential of the private sector

32. Although the potential benefits are attractive, the process is not without risk. The key is to avoid sustainability objectives becoming an obstacle, and to frame them in a positive way that will support value for money and offer consortia a potential competitive edge. For example:

• improved energy efficiency will lower operational costs;
• healthy design can support improved learning, increase customer satisfaction, reduce absenteeism, and reduce future health related claims against councils and consortia;
• improved waste management will reduce construction and operational costs;
• local sourcing of materials and labour can reduce transport related costs (at odds with EU Construction Products Directive);
• sustainable design can provide greater adaptability and help to future-proof schools against costly change;
• implementing an Environmental Management System will provide councils and consortia with a proven and independently assessed arrangement for operational benchmarking and monitoring, based on targets set by the consortia;
• sustainable design can help to guard against climate change risk and reduce the insurance burden related to flooding and weather damage;
• sustainable business practice will assist consortia in furthering their corporate social responsibility objectives, and will improve shareholder satisfaction and the public perception of the PPP process. The sustainable delivery of PPP schools will also support councils in implementing both their local policy objectives and national government targets.

33. In order to implement sustainability as a positive feature of a construction project:

• encourage good design and innovation - exploit the intellectual capital of the private sector;
• recognise market sensitivity - be realistic - beware of the affordability gap;
• take a longer-term view - reward continuous improvement leading towards greater sustainability;
• the main financial criterion for selection and for design should be Whole Life Value, and to support this the design life of the facilities should be set independently of the contract term; ³⁰
• the core principle of the agreement should be continuous performance improvement over the contract term within the framework of an Environmental Management Scheme (EMS);
• overall rates of improvement should be set within the context of national targets related to environmental protection where these exist;
• the contract should include key objectives over time, and mechanisms to monitor, assess, and rate the participants, along with appropriate penalties and suitable additional rewards.

Previous obstacles to delivering sustainability

34. The initial design and construction of new buildings is the smaller part of the potential impact of the provision of school facilities over their lifetime. Sustainability is about both product and process, and best practice with both will be subject to continuous development over time. There are challenges with current PPP agreements to ensure that there is sufficient flexibility to keep pace with change. Work to ensure that:

• the PPP agreement does not impact negatively on performance from the outset;
• changing standards over time are accommodated;
• there is an effective mechanism for continuous improvement through unambiguous performance;
• without such attention to detail, PPP procurement in the schools programme will not support the Government's sustainability targets.

Supporting sustainability through contract requirements

35. There are challenges with current PPP model agreement documents to ensure that sustainability is a core contract requirement. Consider for example, the DfES 4ps Model Project Agreement ³¹:

• the core agreement is expansive, 76,045 words over 243 pages;
• the word "environment" occurs only 5 times (primarily in the context of Health and Safety);
• the word "sustainability" does not occur at all;
• benchmarking and market testing provisions are vague, and relate exclusively to periodic price testing.

Environmental Management Systems

36. The best means by which to enable continuous improvement to environmental performance over the duration of a PPP agreement is within the framework of an Environmental Management System (EMS). An EMS is a methodology that is understood by the private sector, and is becoming increasingly relevant to the public sector. It has the added benefit for PPP of being subject to regular independent external audit.

37. The EMS methodology has three simple steps:

• assess current environmental performance - this could be based on an audit of the schools that the PPP will replace or augment;
• make and implement a plan for continuous improvement - this would form part of the consortia's bids;
• monitor and report subsequent performance - this offers a framework for benchmarking related to project specific key performance indictors.

For example:

• a consortium selects gas as the energy source for central heating;
• through EMS plans they would deliver subsequently a programme of fuel changes and plant improvements that when projected to 2050 would result in a 60% reduction in CO ₂ emissions, in line with Energy White Paper targets;
• how the consortium proposes to structure their plan to achieve that target would be left entirely open to them;
• a discount would be applied to the unitary charge for subsequent failure to maintain progress in accordance the consortium's plan;
• to counterbalance this, the consortium would retain the benefit of any savings that arose from achieving targets and additional efficiencies ahead of time.

38. There are a number of accepted EMS methodologies that could be applied to PPP, the most notable of which are the ISO 14000 series and the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). Both are very similar, the main difference being that ISO 14000 does not require the open publication of audit results. EMAS has the added relevance for PPP of having been endorsed by the EU and UK government as a key element of Local Agenda 21 initiatives.

Using EMAS as a framework for PPP

39. As part of the Local Agenda 21 initiative UK government policy has been to encourage local authorities to take up EMAS by 2000 and the EU has provided an implementation framework to support local authorities in doing this. ³²

However:

• currently there is a total of 73 UK site registrations; ³³
• of these 9 are local authority registrations; ³⁴
• currently there are none in Scotland. ³⁵

40. The renewal of the school estate provides an important opportunity for local authorities to focus their sustainable development policies on a single significant outcome. The introduction of Environmental Management Systems with PPP schools can provide a focus for the fuller compliance with Local Agenda 21 that subsequently can benefit other Council programs.

Establishing sustainability credentials

41. Many PPP consortia have yet to embrace sustainability as a key component of their service offering, but there is a growing awareness that this could be an advantage to them and there is a willingness to embrace it provided this does not leave them at a disadvantage. When pre-qualifying tenderers therefore it is important to be realistic about a consortium's credentials and not to exclude bidders purely on the basis of past experience. It is important to develop an approach to assessment that considers past experience and future project specific intentions.

SCHOOLS ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT METHOD (SEAM)

SEAM is a useful way to assess the environmental credentials of PPP schools, and the key performance indicators that are used with this assessment method are listed below:

• Embodied Energy (Design Eco-points)
• Operational Energy (Carbon Emissions)
• Transport
• Water
• Waste
• Biodiversity
• Site selection
• Sources of hardwood and softwood
• Low N0x combustion equipment
• Use of recycled materials
• Ozone depleting chemicals
• Volatile organic compounds
• Harmful substances
• Lead free paint
• Lead pipework in existing schools
• School grounds
• Recycling facilities and waste disposal
• Environmental purchasing
• Ventilation
• Lighting
• Water economy
• Water quality
• Legionellosis
• Asbestos in existing buildings
• Health and Safety legislation
• Maintenance
• Energy (CO ₂) rating
• Energy management
• Home to school transport policy
• School environment policy

42. Most ITNs for PPP schools now include a requirement to achieve a specified SEAM rating, but in the face of other competing factors often this receives a lower priority in the lead up to financial close. As with other full tile KPI's (key performance indicators) environmental assessment will always be assigned a low priority unless it is linked through the contract to appropriate penalties and rewards.

43. The advantage of SEAM is that it can be used at a number of stages:

• self-assessment as part of a bid submission and for tender evaluation;
• periodic reassessment during design development and construction;
• formal independent assessment and rating at handover;
• regular reassessment as a component of an EMS.

44. Regular re-evaluation against design benchmarks is key to retaining a focus on project aims and objectives.

45. If SEAM is to be used as a tool for assessing consortia however, it would be necessary to exclude any of its performance indicators that are wholly outwith the control of the consortia. Alternatively, consortia could be provided with the councils' own ratings for these indicators as part of the overall scoring for publication with EMAS, but exclude them when assessing how to apply penalties or rewards for contract performance.

46. SEAM is due to be replaced by a BREEAM for schools under the Schools for the Future program.

47. One of the guiding principles of sustainable procurement is to favour local materials and use sources of labour that are close to the construction sites in order to reduce the embodied energy in construction and to support the development of sustainable local businesses.

48. Councils may wish to encourage consortia to consider local sourcing, and may also encourage local business to participate in the PPP process where possible. But care is needed here to ensure that EC Procurement Rules are not breached:

• one of the main objectives of the Treaty of Rome was the abolition of trade barriers between member states;
• it is currently illegal for a public authority to discriminate against potential tenderers from other member states;
• this limits potential for local sourcing (although there are limited exceptions);
• at the heart of this lies a conflict between environmental protection and the globalisation of markets.

49. The EU has provided guidance on green procurement within the context of the current rules, ³⁶ although the issue is complex and application to PPP requires legal interpretation.

Sustainable Procurement Advice

50. Advice is available to councils and consortia from a number of sources:

• Scottish Executive procurement guidance ³⁷;
• Office of Government Commerce ³⁸;
• HM Treasury guidance ³⁹.

Grants for Renewable Energy Technologies

51. Grants are available to councils and consortia. Currently, funds can be obtained from the major photovoltaics program, and through the Scottish Community Renewables Initiative ⁴⁰ which covers:

• small-scale hydro-electric power;
• wave power;
• wind power;
• solar energy (including off-grid photovoltaic, water and space heating);
• landfill and sewage gas;
• biomass and energy from waste.

Whole Life Value, environmental impact and energy assessment

Whole Life Value

52. Whole Life Value assessment should be used as the principal selection criterion for the award of a PPP contract. In order to ensure that costs are considered within a common nationally accepted framework, councils should make use of industry standard assessment tools. Requiring consortia to present their bids within these frameworks, and to monitor and report costs in the same way during design and construction, will ensure the delivery of best value at every stage of the project life cycle.

• BRE ENVEST2 or BRE's Whole Life Comparator
• ENVEST 2 Estimator - for benchmarking
• ENVEST 2 Calculator - for commercial risk assessment

Service life planning

53. Whole Life Costing must take place within the context of established targets. It is important not to equate the target Design Life of the PPP schools with the contract term (typically 25 or 30 years) and in doing so inadvertently support a much shorter term view of the useful life of facilities that with appropriate planning can last much longer:

• consider Design Life Target and Service Life Planning with the ITN;
• do not equate target design life with the contract term - a 60 year target design life would be more appropriate for a 30 year contract term;
• require consortia to declare elemental service life targets with their bids.

Environmental performance criteria

54. One of the main risks with climate change is the uncertain environmental conditions that will be faced by future schools:

• future proofing is needed at the design stage to guard against uncertain climate change;
• environment design criteria are changing constantly;
• regulations and standards are not keeping up;
• who knows how the future will turn out;
• the output specification requirements may need to rely on informed judgment;
• the only practical precaution is for both the council and the consortia to involve their insurers in agreeing design standards.

55. Energy modelling and simulation can be used to establish the impacts of climate change with a view to future proofing. In addition the same systems will provide an integrated evaluation of trade-offs and the impact on performance of design changes, including overall environmental impact.

Design for healthy buildings

56. Many people still equate sustainable design primarily with low energy solutions. While this is still a crucial consideration, eco-design is broadening this to include solutions that will support the provision of healthy environments. To promote healthy buildings:

• encourage use of simple natural materials;
• optimise daylight;
• favour natural ventilation;
• minimise embodied toxins;
• consider toxic mould risk in older buildings. ⁴¹

Encourage refurbishment, recycling and reuse

57. Consortia can be encouraged to make the most of waste minimisation for the benefit of PPP schools by directing them to participate in nationally accepted initiatives. For example:

• require participation in construction waste management schemes such as Smartwaste or WRAP;
• require operational recycling and reuse;
• consider Eco Schools, Waste Watch, SPRINTS and SEPA guidance ⁴².

Operational factors

58. In order to ensure that sustainable performance is delivered in practice it is necessary to focus on potential areas of weakness:

• the consortium's facilities management staff and the council should be involved in design reviews and VFM assessment throughout the design and construction processes;
• rushed or incomplete testing and commissioning can result in underperformance that can sometimes go unnoticed, requiring the establishment with the ITN of a robust procedure for demonstration and documentation at completion;
• design for flexibility over time requires the council to consider future changes in school roll and potential future building uses at the project definition stage;
• to be reliable, site based energy and resource strategies require detailed surveys (wind speed, watercourse flow rates, etc.). Where appropriate these should be carried out in advance by the council to allow the results to be made available to bidding consortia;
• in the short term, it is unlikely that renewables and site-based energy systems will be a significant feature of consortia's proposals, but through their EMS plans they should be required to consider a managed transfer over time away from systems with high initial carbon impacts;
• monitoring is important to ensure that buildings perform as expected/ predicted. Consortia should be required to implement initiatives such as PROBE ⁴³ and to use the results to fine tune the facilities.

A MODEL PROJECT POLICY

The following statements have been set out here as a guide to establishing an approach to a sustainable PPP schools programme. They offer a basic framework that Councils can use to interpret their strategic sustainable development Policies in the context of their future school estate.

• OGC Guidance will be used as the basis for sustainable procurement.
• The council and their partners will procure and operate the schools PPP campus as an exemplar of sustainable practice.
• The council and their partners will adopt the Eco Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) as the framework to deliver continuous improvement to sustainable practice for the schools PPP campus.
• Asset management planning will include a programme of continuous improvement in order to keep pace with developments in best practice over the life of the school facilities.
• Objectives related to corporate governance and social responsibility will be included in the council's output specification.
• Environmental impact assessment will be a factor in site option appraisals.
• The output specification will be coordinated with the council's Green Transport Plan.
• Whole Life Value will be the principal financial criterion for contractor selection and design development.
• The PPP agreement will support community access to the schools.
• The council will take steps to encourage local business, and local labour to benefit from the PPP Schools programme.
• The design and operation of the schools will be assessed, rated and monitored using industry standard tools.
• The council and their partners will support schools with participation in the Eco Schools programme.
• Contractors will be required to participate in a recognised construction waste management scheme, and facilities management planning will be required to include waste minimisation and recycling measures.
• Best practice guidance will be followed for healthy indoor environments, and designers will be encouraged to use natural and organic materials and finishes.
• Best practice guidance will be followed in order to achieve low embodied energy construction.
• Design and facilities management will be required to consider energy and resource planning to mirror government targets over the life of the facilities.

Summary

• Fulfil the true potential of PPP procurement.
• Motivate financial capital - capture intellectual capital.
• Take the longer-term view - establish a framework for continuous improvement.

BRIAN HEMMING: A CLIENT'S VIEW

Brian Hemming is the Highland Councils' Education, Culture and Sport Service Estate Strategy Manager. His role is to develop and implement the School Estate Strategy covering over 200 schools across the Highlands along with the management of the Services Capital Programme. He sometimes describes the job as 'converting the concept into reality' - especially when it comes to juggling the resources available, condition of facilities and aspiration of the school community as a whole.

He joined the Highland Council working alongside the Council's Energy Management Unit and has a background in Electrical Engineering/ Project Management/ Construction Management.

Brian has been directly involved in Education Capital projects for the last six years and is very keen on ensuring that the client takes the lead in defining the requirements of a project, that sustainability and design quality are vital and important elements of that process, and that the final product meets the aspirations of the users. Whilst, like many others, he thought he understood about the need for sustainability in buildings, the past two years have been an enjoyable learning curve that has made him look deeper into the issues to understand more about how to deal with the dilemmas and become an advocate of sustainability, design quality and healthier buildings.

Narrative for Scottish Executive Guidance Document on the development of Sustainable schools.

59. At the request of the Scottish Executive I was asked to contribute to and present my perspective of a recent study tour of Norwegian schools as part of a Sustainable Schools Workshop at the Glencoe Visitor Centre held on the 12 July 2004. The main aim was to demonstrate how this visit had impacted upon me both personally and in my role as the Education, Culture and Sport Service Estate Strategy Manager for the Highland Council. Having been initially unsure of what the study tour could teach me, it soon proved that it was somewhat of a watershed for my understanding of the requirements of good design quality and healthy buildings. After ten years in a local authority and being involved in the management of Education Capital programmes, developing strategies, writing briefs and project management I can honestly say that I returned with a significant change in my outlook on schools designs, sustainability and a willingness to make a change in the way we, as a Service, do business.

60. As a result, I can say that the experience provided me with a view that is unlikely to change with respect to how a building contributes to the health of the occupier, the need for lasting 'good' design, the difference the type of procurement can make, and the significantly different approach to healthy buildings in Norway. Whilst not associated with sustainability directly, one thing about the Norwegian approach that did surprise me, was their approach to play. I can only guess at the reaction I would get if I suggested that we include short climbing walls, activity areas like small assault courses and, best of all, a 3m high 'hump' in the playground with ropes for pupils to climb up.

61. Notwithstanding the upside, it was clear from the visit that the same problems exist in Norway as in our own school estate with respect to condition and maintenance of older schools and, in some respects, even some of the younger ones. Putting a new school on site, as we all know is one thing, keeping up with Whole Life requirements is another.

62. So, having bought into the philosophy and starting to look at the difference in approach, I decided that all project briefs should have some form of benchmark terms within them that the Client could use to evaluate the design and communicate the aims of any new or refurbished building project. As a result, the following now appears in all Highland Council Education, Culture and Sport Project Briefs, including PPP Output Specifications:

• A design of spirit, vision and quality that uses light, volume, and space and that interacts with, and is complementary to the unique culture, tradition, and physical and social setting of the Highlands.
• A design that contributes to the delivery of the curriculum and not an establishment from which the curriculum is delivered.
• Sustainable design that promotes the health of the user and is of a low impact on the environment - a building that is designed to breathe.
• A building constructed using materials that are of low impact on the environment and support the air quality of the building, that has an affordable life cycle/whole life cost, is easily maintained and has the minimum of engineering design solutions.

63. A simple list perhaps, but it identifies, in my view, a good starting point when developing the brief. However, a quote by Norwegian architect, Dagfin Joegensen of Gaia, remains with me and that is, 'Good indoor air quality is a human right'. What does that mean? Well, think how often you have sat in a room half asleep because there is no air or it is stiflingly hot, or the windows are running with condensation in the winter and people are coughing and spluttering all around you.

64. So, as an authority, where are we just now with our school estate of over 200 schools, 33,000 pupils and 2,500 children attending our nurseries? Given that we have in excess of 200m backlog of works, we are doing the best we can through both Public Private Partnership and a Capital Programme that should deliver 100m to 150m of '21st Century Highland Schools' buildings over the next 5 years.

65. In addition to our programme there is a conscious effort by the authority towards sustainable development through the three pillars of environment, community, and economy that supports the sustainable philosophy. As a result we have a Sustainable Development Select Committee that sets policy, dedicated officers for sustainable development, an energy management organisation, draft sustainability planning guidance, a sustainability standard for the built environment and a design specification that sets standards of performance. However, all of these are really high level and, in order to make it work, it is up to all of us to, as they say ' walk the walk'.

66. Well, having identified the high level strategic planning, what about the operational aspect, how does one 'walk the walk' and make a difference? I would ask that you try the following:

• Get the Knowledge: Actively seek out what you need to know.
• Consider: What do you want to deliver as the Client and produce your guiding principles (environment, community, economy).
• Decide how you are going deliver: Corporate commitment requires leadership at all levels of the organisation: Scottish Executive through CEO's of the local authority downwards. It also requires commitment from your contractors.
• Identify the Requirement: Put sustainability into the Client brief, use it as a benchmark to evaluate the design.
• Communicate: Communicate and consult with stakeholders from the start.
• Challenge Designs: Do they match your guiding principles? If you consider you are not intelligent clients then bring someone on board early. (Even at the briefing stage!)
• Form a series of gateways: Set checkpoints within the project to confirm that your requirements are being met.
• Don't complicate the process: That's what makes it more expensive!

67. As a result of experience I can advise you that there will be a number of issues that will get in the way, you have probably come across them all before, but developing sustainable and healthy school buildings is part of the cycle of breaking the mould.

68. Here are a few examples with reactions:

• Apathy and Mindset: If it's such a good idea why have we not done it before?;
  It's expensive; It's time consuming; It won't work there...etc. Determination and education is the only way to get through this.
• Design Philosophies: Architects design to what they know works and rarely step out of the box; engineers 'design in' solutions rather than work with the architect to 'design out'. Make sure you know what design teams are doing and ensure that there is co-ordination between the professional disciplines.
• Procurement Divergence: Difference between 'Design and Build' and Traditional procurement. PPP timescale - You can only judge, not assess, the sustainability of a design at signing the deal. Thereafter there is a consistent erosion of commitment that sacrifices sustainability and design quality in favour of ease of construction, time and profit. Keep your nerve, insist on right responses, make sure it is written in from the beginning that they have to comply and ensure that any agent acting on your behalf understands, and complies with your position.
• Post Occupancy: The building may function in a completely different way from how you thought at briefing. Undertake post occupancy evaluation and be prepared to make the building work by training the occupiers. Take the lessons forward to the next project.

69. Over the coming years the real difficulty we face, as I see it, is the contest we are having over the design quality of PPP and how much control we have over design and construction content. Over the next 3 to 5 years alone there will be 2bn of national investment in our schools infrastructure. This is of real concern as there is a clear divergence in how we control development through traditional procurement and PPP. Nearly all of the educationalists, architects, contractors and PPP practitioners attending the Glencoe workshop in July were concerned about how to bring about the change and how they could ' walk the walk.'

70. We, as a local authority, are taking the sustainability agenda seriously. Part of that agenda is to undertake a pilot sustainable school development at Acharacle, which is a small but vibrant community some 45 miles south west of Fort William. It has been an interesting experience, particularly as the community got right behind the idea and it was not long before ideas were being generated as to what 'sustainable' elements should be included in the building such as solar panels; heat pumps; wind generators; insulation types; wood burning furnaces for heating etc. The real challenge, though, was to identify with the community that all of these solutions were good but, how about just starting from scratch and looking at developing a school which requires little or no heating, has virtually no moving parts in the form of mechanical or electrical services, utilises healthy construction materials and minimises the introduction of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) into the building? As a result, we have a brief that has been developed in full consultation with the community and stakeholders that meets all our aspirations which will shortly go to a specialist design team.

71. Necessarily, the majority of the 2bn infrastructure development I mentioned will be procured through PPP. As a result it will be 'signed off' at a point when one can only judge, and not assess, the sustainability of the design. If you think that a BREEAM assessment and all of those well defined specifications will work for you then it won't be long before the reality of the process ensures that they are being eroded away by the 'politics' of the need to deliver within identified timescales and costs. At the same time the preferred bidder is looking to sacrifice sustainability and design quality in favour of ease of construction, time and profit. If you think that this is a political statement against Public Private Partnerships you are wrong, I am convinced it is a reality.

72. Notwithstanding the reality, I see PPP as a good vehicle, providing we can place more emphasis on sustainability, design quality and health. We can only do that by ensuring that the race to deliver is started on the right terms and that the process is managed to the extent that sustainability, design quality and health are the key drivers at all stages of that race.

73. It is therefore essential that the sustainability agenda is put in its appropriate place by acting now and ensuring that we are committed to all of those things that people say are wrong with procurement traditionally or through PPP - by:

• Recognising that we must act now before we have 2bn of school buildings that are going to be around for 100 years.
• Driving the agenda through improvement of knowledge.
• Bringing about change and understanding in the PPP 'SPV' and their design and construction teams.
• The promotion of a sensible sustainable agenda throughout the school estate.
• Ensuring strong communication, consultation and leadership at all levels.

This means that the onus is on us, not 'somebody else' to deliver an effective legacy for the future of our pupils, staff, communities and environment.

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