Monmouthshire County Council Leads the Way with Wales Greenest School

As World leaders travel to Copenhagen for the UN World summit on climate change, Monmouthshire County Council is leading Wales with its new environmentally friendly school buildings. One of the County's newest schools, Rogiet Primary, has achieved a BREEAM rating of 78.18%. BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) is the leading and most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings. Rogiet Primary's rating is the highest in Wales.

Cabinet Member for Children and Young People's Services, Cllr Liz Hacket Pain, said:

"This is an excellent achievement for the County of Monmouthshire. Especially as many of the eco credentials can be used as educational tools such as the water collection device. Before the school was built many of the children expressed a wish to see their new school have a green element this has been fulfilled beyond all expectations."

The new school was built on the site of the original school's playing fields. It has seven classrooms, outdoor teaching areas, a new playground and sports ground.  It has its own orchard with apple, plum and cherry trees and the produce will be used in the school kitchen. The school's green features include solar panels and rainwater harvesting facilities.

Rogiet Primary School opened in November. It has capacity for 210 pupils and is one of a number of new schools that Monmouthshire County Council has constructed in partnership with Willmott Dixon. This partnership was acknowledged at the recent UK finals of the Constructing Excellence awards, at which we won the Integration and Collaborative Working category.