Case study: BHASVIC
How BHASVIC modernised its estate to work towards net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.
BHASVIC set out an ambitious long-term strategic plan to modernise its site and work towards net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.
On a constrained city land footprint, it has successfully worked on 2 transformational building projects, delivered by a combination of grant funding and borrowing. This has developed the site facilities from old classrooms and huts to modern learning environments.
This has been achieved whilst:
- embracing a new digital education strategy
- actively working to follow the Climate Commission and Nous Group Climate Action Roadmap for UK FE Colleges as a core priority
The scope and success of the programme is an example of how a sixth-form college with a relatively small turnover has used effective student-centred planning to reposition its old estate for the future.
BHASVIC is a sixth-form college in Brighton which dates back to 1859.
It has:
- 3,139 full-time equivalent (FTE) students
- an annual turnover of £14.4 million
- Ofsted Outstanding and Financial Health Outstanding as of July 2021
- one campus on Dyke Road, Hove
- an excellent local reputation
The current principal was keen to improve the facilities and technology across the estate.
The college predominantly offers an A level curriculum, with a small amount of vocational provision. It has a large percentage of students aged 16 to 19, totalling 3,400 in financial year 2022 to 2023.
It offers no adult education, apprenticeships or higher education (HE).
The gross internal area of the estate is 13,622 square metres. All the estate is freehold.
The total annual running costs of the estate are £420,000 per year.
Estate condition
The estate condition is broken down into 4 categories.
| Condition category | Estate in category |
|---|---|
| A | 36% |
| B | 45% |
| C | 19% |
| D | 0% |
Functional suitability
Functional suitability measures the extent to which a space meets its required use.
- Very good: 47%
- Good: 38%
- Satisfactory: 15%
- Unsatisfactory: 0%
The college had a good reputation academically but poor facilities, with:
- ageing Victorian main buildings
- a collection of huts still being used for educational delivery
- a lack of space to accommodate growth - the site is in the centre of Brighton and has a very constrained footprint
- poor accessibility for students with special educational needs (SEN)
The college has no land or assets to sell to reinvest in expansion or refurbishment.
Many classrooms on the site were designed to hold 16 students but were housing 24, which was causing a poor learning environment.
In 2015, the college produced a new masterplan which set out a 3-phase plan of investment. The college considered only 2 options for the future: do nothing or implement the masterplan.
Further options were not considered due to the:
- relative simplicity of the offer (primarily A levels)
- constraints of their small estate
Although student numbers have grown rapidly over the period of investment, the aim was not to expand. Instead, the plan was to:
- upgrade learning facilities, including new fit-for-purpose buildings
- provide some futureproofing for growth
The plan also included meeting the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) Excellent standard, as the local authority places high priority on environmental responsibility.
The first 2 phases of the masterplan have been implemented.
The first 2 phases of the plan included the construction of 2 new buildings. Delivery of both phases involved spending £5.3 million of cash reserves to improve the estate.
The Copper Building
The Copper Building is 2,445 square metres and was completed in 2015, at a cost of £7.3 million.
It created:
- accessible classrooms for English, economics, and business studies
- new classrooms for additional learning support
- additional catering and social space for students
The project was financed with:
- £4.2 million borrowing
- £1.5 million grant funding
- £1.6 million from cash reserves
The Elms Building
The Elms Building is 2,823 square metres and was completed in 2021 at a cost of £9.2 million.
It created:
- new biology labs, increasing student capacity
- a theatre and performing arts classrooms
- new accommodation for music, media and humanities
The project was financed with:
- £1.5 million in borrowing
- £4.0 million in grant funding
- £3.7 million from cash reserves
Staff consultation
It was important to the management team to include as many staff as possible in the planning of the projects. Teaching, support staff and curriculum managers were included in design consultation meetings.
Consultations were held with every layer of construction staff, not just project managers. For example:
- science teachers met with the subcontractors who would work on the laboratory
- IT practitioners met with mechanical and engineering consultants
The result was a better understanding of the practical implications of design decisions and the project overall than would have been achieved by only involving managers.
Appointment of a Director of Digital Strategy
The college has invested in a senior role to develop strategic plans for digital delivery. This is a rare investment in a sixth-form college, but has resulted in digital infrastructure being equally considered in the planning of estate facilities and modernising educational delivery.
This has been important in many areas, but has been vital in planning:
- media and performing arts spaces
- science
- additional support
- continued student engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic
Managing contractor costs
Following the initial tender process for one of the project stages, a contractor was appointed who later submitted a greatly increased cost estimate. The college retained an independent team of expert advisers and the quantity surveyor advised that the proposed increase was not justified.
Despite the pressure of time and additional work involved, the college took the decision to refuse the revised estimate and go back out to a full re-tender. Although this introduced some delay and reworking into the project, the result was that the project was delivered to the original specification and budget.
Package for grant applications
The college maintains an updated package for grant applications which is well evidenced and can quickly be reviewed and submitted in response to grant funding opportunities as they arise. This incurs some cost and risk but has resulted in success in securing funding.
Floor space utilisation analysis
BHASVIC conducted a thorough analysis of its floor space utilisation with an external consultant, which based the calculation on theoretical occupancy and actual occupancy.
Theoretical numbers of available seats in each room, according to original planning, were different to seats actually available. The calculation took account of both sets of data and compared them with student attendance. This methodology might not support all grant application requirements but could be useful for understanding utilisation and planning internally. This methodology gives 59% overall utilisation, but 50% if measured on available spaces only.
Estate dashboard
The college does not currently use estate metrics to measure ongoing efficiency and utilisation. The management team is aware of this gap in information and is planning to implement an estate dashboard which will report on key metrics such as:
- estate maintenance cost per square metre
- energy cost per square metre
- energy usage
- solar power generation
It will also include other useful information, for example, the asbestos register and contractor details.
A dedicated estate dashboard is uncommon and could provide a useful tool for monitoring the effectiveness of future estate strategies. It will be crucial to the college’s aim of achieving their stretching sustainability goals.
Sustainability
The college has achieved the BREEAM rating of Excellent for all its estate development to date. It has set an ambitious target of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 and has received support from the Carbon Trust to produce an action plan to achieve this.
This is supported by planning from college sustainability groups. It is the ambition of the management team to achieve net-zero carbon with proactive changes to practice and infrastructure and minimal carbon offsetting. The student body is engaged with this ambition and has contributed to the action plan.
The management team decided to commission the Carbon Trust action plan. The report found that the goal of net-zero carbon by 2030, although ambitious, was achievable and set out in some detail the steps needed to progress with the aim. The college is now in the process of planning to implement the recommendations.
There were 3 steps in producing the action plan.
Step 1: work out current carbon footprint
This required the technical support from the Carbon Trust and involved site visits and analysis of:
- insulation
- double-glazing
- boilers and heating
- lighting
- energy generation
Total current annual greenhouse emissions were calculated to be 788 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), split across different sources.
| Source of emissions | Tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) |
|---|---|
| Procurement of goods and services from third parties | 306 |
| Electricity consumption in buildings | 219 |
| Natural gas consumption in buildings | 142 |
| Extraction, production and transportation of fuels consumed | 66 |
| Other | 55 |
Step 2: assess current state
The report found that the college currently scored 52% in a self-assessment against the Climate Action Roadmap for Further Education Colleges.
The team also found that many of the more straightforward typical improvements that could normally be recommended had already been implemented at the college, for example, LED lighting and double-glazing were present throughout the site.
The trust also reported a good level of existing energy efficiency.
Step 3: make recommendations for a practical immediate plan
This focused on:
- replacement of gas boilers with more efficient heat pumps
- installation of high efficiency motors
- heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) control
- a new solar PV car port
The report acknowledged the need for carbon offsetting in addition to these actions, to reach the net-zero target. It also highlighted the need to consider procurement processes as part of the longer-term carbon reduction goals of the organisation, given the proportion of current carbon footprint caused by these.
The management team describes several immediate impacts from the completion of the projects.
Visual transformation
The site now looks modern and purposeful, replacing old domestic buildings with purpose-built educational facilities.
Working space
There has been an improvement in space available for students to work in.
Changes in culture and behaviour
There has been a change in culture and behaviour of students.
For example, littering has markedly decreased due to good landscaping.
Staff morale
Teachers feel that the estate now demonstrates pride in the environment and there has been a positive impact on staff morale.
Increased student numbers
Student numbers have increased throughout the period of investment and numbers have grown by more than 100 per year over the past 2 years due to improvements to the environment, among other factors.
Benefits to the community
At this stage, community benefit from the building projects has been limited because of VAT constraints, which has meant their use has to be restricted to students aged 16 to 19.
It could be possible to allow community use of the theatre at a later date, once these constraints have expired.
The management team reported a number of lessons learned from the project which can improve future practice.
Appointment of professional advisers
The initial appointment of professional advisers, such as a project manager and architect, was a challenge. However, such a team is required perhaps once every 5 years and recruitment had not been undertaken for some time previously.
Feedback on consultation with stakeholders
Although the breadth and depth of consultation was a strength of the project, a lesson learned was that it’s a good idea to plan in systems for feeding back all actions taken in response to views received.
Stakeholders did not always hear back on their suggestions when acted on, and they were not always revisited when plans changed during the project. This could be improved by planning a communication loop for responses to feedback and significant changes throughout the project.
It is also important to speak to a range of students and not just student association members, as they may not be fully representative of the student body.
Visiting other sites
The project kitchen would have benefitted from a visit to other sites to look at layouts, as although consultation was undertaken, it was hard to envisage practical problems until it was physically built.
The learning point was to consider looking at existing physical examples of any complicated spaces, as well as discussing them in theory in outline plans.
Capacity in a small college
Because the college is a small sixth-form college, internal project management capacity was a challenge. A full plan was needed beforehand about how to release management time and involve end users in consultation and testing.
The team learned that there probably wasn’t sufficient backfilling planned for project management and for finance and technician roles. It’s important to allocate sufficient budget for fit-out and construction, and to have an individual to manage the fit-out process and coordinate staff to work on this.
Consultation with neighbours
Early consultation with residential neighbours on issues such as car parking and construction impact is crucial.
It’s important to plan this into the programme schedule from the start. If this doesn’t happen, there is a danger that they are not included in stakeholder consultation at an early enough stage to avoid issues later.
The masterplan sets out the final, third phase of the site development which would address some of the remaining challenges.
Increased running costs
An overall increase in floor area from the two projects has increased the estate running costs. The college budgeted for a 20% increase in overall utility cost for both buildings based on increased space.
The Copper Building, which uses natural ventilation and solar panels for heating, did not cause a great increase in utility cost. The Elms Building, however, has more complex internal mechanical installations and is costing slightly more than was budgeted for, despite making use of heat exchange technology.
The college can measure energy requirements of the buildings separately and so has been able to track the impact and plan offsetting measures.
High utilisation
Since student numbers have continued to grow whilst the investment programme has been implemented, utilisation is still very high at 59%.
A recently commissioned space needs assessment indicates that future provision will be 11 classrooms short of requirement. The college is considering whether it may need to cap student numbers and prevent any further growth, despite demand.
Older parts of the estate
Parts of the estate are still old and not suitable for the delivery of modern education. For example, the main College House was previously used for dormitories. It is therefore an inefficient space for teaching and is also not accessible for students with SEN.
Next phase
The next phase is to replace:
- the remaining modular classrooms and huts
- create a student-centred base which provides welfare, tutorial, library and student services
The relocation of the library will vacate significant space which will be used to create new classrooms. Following completion of the final phase, the masterplan will be updated and an annual accommodation strategy will be produced to address the ongoing curriculum strategy and investment requirements.