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Minister for Education Norma Foley TD, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications with special responsibility for the Circular Economy and Communications, Ossian Smyth TD and Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion Josepha Madigan TD have congratulated St Gabriel’s Special School, Cork, on the official opening of their transformed school today after the completion of a substantial decarbonisation project delivered under the Schools Decarbonisation Pathfinder Programme.
The project involved remodelling, refurbishment and energy retrofitting and was delivered successfully in a live school environment through works phasing.
This Government-funded energy retrofit pathfinder programme is targeting improved energy efficiency and CO2 emissions reduction by 51 per cent, testing deep retrofit and low carbon heating solutions.
The Pathfinder Programme is jointly funded by the Department of Education and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
This school project was administered by the SEAI and the Department of Education, with delivery support from Limerick Clare Education and Training Board (LCETB).
Minister Foley said: “I would like to congratulate the staff, pupils, parents and Board of Management in St Gabriel’s Special School in Cork on this milestone date. This project is an example of how this programme continues to assist the Department to explore options and test various solutions for decarbonised energy solutions in our broad range of school building types.
“The delivery of this transformational project while maintaining school operations is a credit to the great collaboration and understanding between the teams involved from the school, my Department, the SEAI and the design and contracting teams.”
Minister of State Smyth said: “It’s great that the pupils and staff of St Gabriel’s will now enjoy a more comfortable and cosy school. The school will save money on its energy bills every year from now on. SEAI and the Department of Education will use the experience of upgrading St Gabriel’s when they upgrade other schools around the country.”
Minister of State Madigan said: “The pupils, teachers and communities around our special schools show time and again how they can drive great innovation when it comes to school settings. The Schools Decarbonisation Pathfinder Programme is for all types of schools and school buildings and is designed to support improved energy efficiency, which can help reduce school running costs. The reconfiguration works undertaken by St Gabriel’s have helped to optimise their existing building to provide a refreshed and modern school environment which supports pupils’ physical, educational and sensory needs. I would like to wish them all the very best for the future as they settle into their upgraded environment.
CEO of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, William Walsh said: “SEAI is delighted to have supported the St Gabriel’s deep retrofit project and we intend to continue this invaluable partnership with the Department of Education and school communities across Ireland. The SEAI Pathfinder Programme has been growing significantly since its introduction in 2018, with a pipeline of over €200 Million in public sector pathfinder projects supported in the last two years. SEAI is working with the largest public sector energy users to test solutions through flagship projects like St Gabriel’s which clearly demonstrates the massive benefits of climate action in action. The Department of Education is a leader in this area and is committed along with SEAI and the other Pathfinder partners to continued climate action to benefit children, parents and teachers of today and securing the future for the next generations”.
School Principal David Thomas said: "This is a very exciting time for our pupils and staff. We were extremely fortunate to partake in the 2022 Low Energy Retrofit programme. This has been a long time coming for our pupils and staff who have been based here in Bishopstown since 1998. A new, purpose built school has been highest on the agenda of each St. Gabriel's board, so this building is a culmination of the efforts of my two predecessors Margaret Lordan and Siobhan Allen.
“We are already reaping the benefits of a purpose built environment, catering to the complex sensory needs for our children and adolescents with severe intellectual disabilities, and will continue to do so for years to come."
To date, the Pathfinder Programme has retrofitted 54 schools across Ireland with another 24 schools currently at various stages of the programme.
For a video showcasing previous school experience with the Pathfinder Programme including this school visit here .
Upgraded as part of the Pathfinder programme, St Gabriel’s Special School is a single storey building, originally constructed in the 1980s as a mainstream primary school. The school is a flat roofed single storey linear building, originally designed as two separate 8 Classroom schools, located either side of a central external courtyard in Bishopstown, Cork.
Prior to renovation and upgrade works, Saint Gabriel’s Special School occupied one eight classroom section of the building and the other areas had been unused for 10 years, unmaintained and in a dilapidated state. The Pathfinder project involved the renovation of the entire building for the use of Saint Gabriel’s School to form a purpose-designed and expanded 10 Classroom Special School. Floor area renovated was approx. 2850m² and the scope of the project included upgrade of external play areas and site services. Landscaping design and external space is optimised to create a range of different play and recreation experiences connected to the building and the location offers opportunities for pupils to enjoy the adjacent Bishopstown public park, playground and Curaheen walk.
The building reconfiguration was designed to optimise the existing building, to provide a refreshed and modern school environment supporting pupil’s physical, educational and sensory needs. Proposed works involved the adaptation of existing classrooms to provide dedicated support and therapy spaces, sanitary facilities and storage areas accessible from each new classroom. Continual engagement between the design team and the school end users ensured that every element of the design was carefully considered to achieve a high quality learning environment that caters for a wide variety of specific needs.
The design included universal accessibility works with a new main entrance area with canopy, improved circulation as well as additional external access doors to play areas dedicated to each class. Internal works involved a full mechanical and electrical upgrade, new finishes throughout to enhance the environment in terms of sensory and acoustic environment, new universally accessible sanitary and therapy facilities, safety and security systems.
The works from a fabric point of view concentrated on the upgrading of the external wall insulation in the building and the roof. The roof was finished with a high level of insulation and new roof finish. The remaining fabric upgrade included significant air tightness works, replacement of windows and doors in the building and the replacement of external doors in the building.
As part of the heating upgrade the works involved addition of new low temperature air source heat pumps including buffer tank and new ceiling mounted radiant panels and heating distribution system. This has resulted in a school having a large majority of its heating requirement from a renewable source. The gas boiler was retained and upgraded, including the addition of new LPG tank. To support the renewable heating in the building mechanical ventilation heat recovery units have been fitted to school.
Substantial works to electrical services have been carried out including new LED lighting to whole school. New electric water heaters and hot and cold water services where added as well as new internal drainage.
Solar PV panels have been added to roof to allow school to use renewable electricity and also export electrical energy. The building has been fitted with new LED lighting and new building energy management system.
The Department of Education is at the forefront of design with respect to sustainable energy in school buildings and this performance has been recognised at both national and international level with sustainable energy awards for excellence in design and specification.
Schools that are designed and built, in accordance with the Department’s schools’ technical guidance documents must achieve an A3 Building Energy Rating A3 and have typically up to 20 per cent higher performance than required by the current Building Regulations, along with 10 per cent of primary energy provided via photovoltaics and infrastructure provision for electric vehicle charging.
All new technologies and approaches are tested to ensure compatibility with school design and operational requirements. Successful and repeatable results are then incorporated into all new school designs and refurbishments.
The Department’s technical guidance documents set the benchmark for sustainable design in school buildings with a clear focus on energy efficiency and they are based on solid energy research projects.
The Department’s policy is supported by a strong research programme, with 54 research projects at various stages.
The Department and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland are involved in an energy efficient retrofit pathfinder scheme for schools since 2017. The longer-term outcome of the pathfinder will be to create an accurate and scalable model for energy efficient retrofits of schools across Ireland. A deep energy retrofit programme for schools built prior to 2008 is due to be rolled out as included in the National Development Plan.
The pathfinder programme builds on significant investment by the Department of Education in energy efficiency through the 2009/10 Cavity and Attic Insulation/Water Conservation Scheme and ongoing Summer Works and refurbishment projects.
The upgrades target a Building Energy Rating of B, 50 per cent energy efficiency improvement and 51 per cent emissions reduction. The works typically involves upgrades to the building fabric including wall and roof insulation, doors and windows, air tightness improvements, LED lighting and heating upgrades as well as renewable technologies.
The general principles and approach to school selection include schools meeting Energy Monitoring and Reporting requirements and demonstrating a strong and holistic commitment to energy management practices through participation in the Energy in Education Programme. The programme selection also seeks to enable various cross sections of school types and sizes, energy consumption profiles and different elements of construction type and heritage/ conservation requirements where specific learnings are being targeted. The seven counties for 2024 were the remaining counties in the country that had not previously featured in the pathfinder programme. The pathfinder programme is thus delivered on broad assessment in line with the above considerations and not on an invitation basis.
SEAI and the Department of Education have also partnered for a number of years on a range of initiatives, collectively called ‘Energy in Education’, to support the improvement of energy efficiency in schools. There is a strong focus on the provision of practical guidance and direction to schools via the Energy in Education project.
The website www.energyineducation.ie provides a one stop shop designed to help school boards of management, principals, teachers, administrators, caretaking staff, pupils, parents, architects, engineers and contractors to improve energy use practice and reduce school operating costs along with helping to protect the environment for future generations. The project also provides energy management training for schools along with an energy assessment from a professional.
In addition, the SEAI schools’ programme works with schools, both students and teachers, to provide curriculum material around the energy retrofit, unlocking the educational benefit to these works. More information is available about the SEAI schools’ programme at here .
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