Making our buildings more energy efficient
Enrolment for 2023/24 summer term courses will commence on Monday 19 February at 10am.
If you start enrolling but don't complete the process, go to ebs: ontrack, log in and look under ‘Next steps’ to resume your enrolment and make the payment.
Lewisham Council declared a climate emergency in April 2019 and aim to make the borough carbon neutral by 2030. In response the Council published its Climate Emergency Action Plan in 2020 which sets out how this will be achieved.
The biggest contributor to carbon emissions in Lewisham is the burning of natural gas for heating and hot water production. In February 2021 the Council successfully bid for 3.5 million from the government to help meet its carbon net zero ambitions by 2030.
In order to reduce our reliance on carbon based fuels we will be installing the following at Brockley Rise:
- LED sensor lighting
- Solar Panels
- A group source heat pump
- Insulated heating pipes
- Heating controls.
Work will start on Thursday 18 November and should be completed by the end of March 2022. Upon completion Brockley Rise will be ‘net zero ready’ with first ground source heat pump on a Lewisham Council building.
In order to install the ground source heat pump, 20 x 200 meter rods will be inserted into the ground (in the car park around the building). These rods will draw the heat from the ground to push into the system for the building.
Whilst every care will be taken to ensure your learning experience is not disrupted, there will be some noise disruption whilst the bore holes are being drilled. However we will try to keep disruptions to a minimum wherever possible.
Watch this video of a bore hole drilling ring in action to get an idea of what the process involves.
Access to parking at Brockley Rise
Following a meeting with the contractors for the decarbonisation project the car park at Brockley Rise will be closed completely from 19 January on Health & Safety grounds.
We had hoped to maintain some limited disabled parking in the rear car park until drilling in the rear carpark commenced, but due to unforeseen circumstances work at the front of the building has been delayed.
In order to keep the project on schedule contractors will be working in all areas surrounding the building so closing the car park in January is our only safe option. It is likely to remain closed for the whole of the Spring Term, but if it does become possible to open it earlier we will of course do so. We recommend that you use the space on Brockley Park for drop-off and pick-up if travelling by taxi.
While we recognise that this will be inconvenient, we hope that the end product of a carbon-neutral building will be worthwhile in the long run so please bear with us.
Access to the building
Entry to and exit from the site will be via the front gate on Brockley Rise. Access to Huts 1 – 5 and the pottery will be via a fenced off corridor marked in red on this diagram. The current entry and exit doors in the reception area will continue to be used, but it will not be possible to exit the building from the door at the far end of the corridor for the duration of the works.
Emergency exit will be through the front gate then along the pavement to the assembly point on Brockley Park. The new emergency exit route will be displayed around the centre.
Works at Granville Park and Grove Park
We will be installing the following at Granville Park:
- An air source heat pump
- LED sensor lighting
- Heating controls.
At Grove Park we will be installing:
- An air source heat pump
- Solar panels LED sensor lighting
- Insulate heating pipes
- Wall insulation
- Hot water upgrade.
Installation of LED lighting will commence on 13 December at Grove Park and in January at Granville Park.
Work to install the air source heat pumps at Granville Park and Grove Park will start week commencing 17 January.