The Department for Education (DfE) supported by Innovate UK has partnered with construction innovators to deliver GenZero - a research project to deliver a new ultra-low carbon building standard for schools.
The prototype
The prototypes for this project will enable more efficient manufacturing processes to be used to enable faster construction, increased productivity and lower carbon emissions.
The GenZero classroom prototype contains 10t (20m3) of timber. The embodied carbon produced by creating the structural materials and constructing the classroom resulted in 9t of CO2e emissions. However, the carbon stored in the timber during its growth is equivalent to 16t CO2e, meaning the prototype can act as carbon storage during its life.
The 8t (16m3) of glulam and CLT used in this prototype was completely grown and manufactured in Scotland. To produce this much engineered timber requires approximately 27 trees, which would be harvested from an area of approximately 800m2, or about a tenth of a football pitch. The UK’s certified sustainably managed forests cover 1.41 million hectares, meaning enough timber to produce the prototype is grown every 64s in the UK.
Project partners
