THE CHALLENGE 

At Bouygues E&S, we are committed to helping our clients meet their net zero targets in line with our ‘Together Further for Climate’ strategic pillar. Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) has pledged to reach Net Zero on its own operations by 2035 and for the county of Cambridgeshire by 2045. Bouygues E&S is playing a key role in helping CCC achieve this through multiple renewable energy contracts in Cambridgeshire including Comberton Village College, where we have delivered an innovative renewable heat network.

The scheme has been a collaboration between Bouygues E&S, the Cam Academy Trust, CCC, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and Salix. Fundamentally, the new heat network has eliminated oil heating on site, replaced end-of-life heating plant, saved the college on its heating costs, and reduced carbon emissions from the college’s heating by 70%. A key feature of the agreement is a performance guarantee on the projected energy savings.

THE PROJECT OVERVIEW 

The project has replaced aging oil boilers in 11 different plant rooms with a network distributing heat to the buildings on site. The heat is now supplied by ground source heat pumps installed in the main plant room, which extract heat from an array of 215m deep boreholes in the college’s car parks through underground pipes resulting in the delivery of 705 kW of thermal energy. Notably, the heat pump technology is currently the only form which allows for rapid decarbonisation of heating.

Delivered in a live environment, the site operates 360+ days a year, with up to 2,000 pupils and staff on site. These factors added to the complexity of the project’s delivery and collaboration with the college was essential to mitigate these challenges, while also working to the highest safety standard.

As with any project, end user satisfaction is key, but in this case the students vested interest throughout the project and in the futureproofing of the college has been very apparent. Undoubtedly, it has been fantastic to see the level of passion and urgency from the next generation who will soon be leading on the sustainability agenda.