Pupils celebrate first low carbon school heating system

Peter Gladwin’s low carbon heating system is now fully up and running, and children from the school’s pupil parliament have taken a tour of the works.

The primary school in Portslade is the first in the city to have all its heating and hot water driven by low carbon technologies.

The gas boilers have been fully decommissioned, and the school’s heating and hot water is now powered by a bank of air source heat pumps.

First school with fully low carbon heating

While other schools in Brighton & Hove currently have some areas heated by low-carbon heat pumps, this is the first in the council’s portfolio to move fully to low carbon heating.

It’s estimated that the new system will reduce the school’s carbon emissions by around 19 tonnes per year.

Councillor Tim Rowkins, Cabinet member for Net Zero and Environmental Services, said: “It was really inspiring to meet with Peter Gladwin’s pupil parliament to find out how the new heating system is going. It was lovely and warm in the school, and the children were very clued up about the new system and how it works.

“This successful partnership – with funding from the council and central government, rooftop solar power run by local community energy co-op BHESCo, in-house project management and local contractors – is a flagship for the future. We hope to see more projects like this taking shape in 2026.”

Bringing together local expertise

The project team looked carefully at the existing heating and hot water usage before designing the scheme to fit the school’s needs.

Peter Gladwin School’s air-source heat pumps include the latest technology, which means they can respond to conditions much more quickly than traditional heat pumps, closely matching fluctuating heating demand. This reduces energy consumption while helping to maintain a more consistent optimum temperature.

The new system, designed by BLB Chartered Surveyors, provides instant hot water, which will help to reduce water consumption.

The heating system was approaching the end of its operational life, and the council had already allocated funding to replace it. The project was supported by a grant from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, administered by Salix Finance.

Brighton & Hove Energy Services Co-op (BHESCO) installed the school’s 50kW rooftop solar panel array, and that will free up electrical capacity to help run the new heat pumps.

Edgar & Wood, a local mechanical engineering firm based in Hove, carried out the work.

Find out more about BHESCo’s solar energy work with the city’s schools

• Brighton & Hove is exploring the creation of a Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP) to deliver city‑wide energy decarbonisation for buildings and transport at scale and pace. Find out more about the Strategic Energy Partnership opportunity.