Sustainability consultant Inbuilt Consulting and Sir Robert McAlpine are to work on the UK’s first school based on the German low-energy PassivHaus standard.

The school, which will be part of the Building Schools for the Future initiative, is at bid stage but its location has not yet been revealed.

Neil Cutland, executive director of Inbuilt, said the project would include PassivHaus features such as airtight construction, high standard insulation and high-specification glazing.

He said: “In schools the internal quality is fundamentally important, so a nicely lit, thermally comfortable and well-ventilated environment improves learning. PassivHaus principles can help you achieve that.”

The design for the school includes a number of energy targets, such as a space heating and cooling demand of less than 15kWh/m2/year and primary energy use of no more than 50kWh/m2/year. It should achieve an airtightness standard of less than 1m3/h/m2.

More than 7,000 European homes have been built to the standard since it was launched in 1990, but none in the UK.

PassivHaus dwellings aim to achieve an energy saving of 90% compared with traditional housing.

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