Midland construction group Shaylor is near to completing one of its greenest ever projects.
It involves a £2.5 million extension to a top Rugby school where solar panels and ground source heat pumps have been installed in a bid to dramatically cut energy bills.
And with power costs continuing to surge it believes such environmentally friendly elements are set to become much more common across the sector.
The Rugby scheme is for high-flying boys grammar school Lawrence Sheriff and takes in a library, classrooms and meeting facilities.
Work started last November and the two-storey development is on target for hand-over at the end of August.
It comes as Aldridge-based Shaylor Group has just achieved registration to the ISO14001:2004 environmental management standard. It has taken a year to implement the shake-up across the company.
David McLean, the group’s site manager at Lawrence Sheriff School, who has been 42 years in the building trades, said it was probably the most environmentally-led scheme he had ever worked on.
“We are talking about cutting edge technology which should vastly reduce energy bills,” he said.
“With the cost of power going through the roof, if you can take advantage of a competitive alternative to gas and electricity then you are onto a winner.”
The ground source heat pumps saw Shaylor drill 100 metres deep in three separate operations to insert special pipework to allow water circulation.
“The system works rather like a fridge in reverse,” noted Mr McLean.
It is produced by Coventry-based Geothermal International, which, since its establishment in 2000, has been involved with the design and implementation of over 100 such installations, ranging from small, single homes with a 6kW heating requirement, to large scale commercial ventures requiring Megawatts of heating and cooling.
The new school extension, which is fully air-conditioned, also saw Shaylor operate extensive recycling of waste products, with segregation of the likes of metal, plasterboard, wood, brick rubble and general waste via different skips, all part of the ISO 14001 pledge.
It commits Shaylor to continuous improvement, and environmental officer Jenny Cawley said the process had been a very positive one. “People’s awareness and interest in environmental issues within the company has grown.
“Now on every project environmental issues are part of the planning and decision-making processes.
“The construction industry has in the past been considered very backward in its approach to things, environmental issues being just one area. Having ISO14001 demonstrates our commitment to the environment and to improving the way we do things as a construction company. It is a sign that we want to improve and be the best.
“We are now able to divert a notable amount of waste from landfill and it is also having a positive effect on our energy consumption.”
Lawrence Sheriff has 870 pupils aged 11 to 18.
It is a specialist college for mathematics and computing, and boasts high academic achievement including an overall pass rate of more than 98 per cent at A Level, with well over 50 per cent at grades A and B. At GCSE, every student achieves at least five passes at A*- C, the vast majority in eight or more subjects. In recent years, over 70 per cent of GCSE passes have been at grade A* or A.

Pictured: Shaylor Group’s Health, Safety, Environmental & Quality Adviser Jenny Cawley with site manager David McLean at the Lawrence Sheriff School