Carbon emissions from the Government’s flagship academy schools are higher than their state sector counterparts, new academic research has suggested.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge and Shinawatra University in Thailand have found that annual CO₂ emissions for the publicly funded, independent schools were 27% higher than primary schools and consume one-and-a half times the electricity per pupil compared with secondary schools.

Typical CO₂ emissions per pupil were also shown to be 116% higher in academies compared with primary schools.

The figures are thought to be due to the greater electricity demands of academies which tend to have more state-of-the-art facilities, as schools in general are putting in place more measures to reduce fossil-thermal energy usage such as heating at the expense of electricity consumption.

Using data from around 25,000 Display Energy Certificates (DECs) following a Freedom of Information request to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), academics were able to compare information from the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) to create a database covering 40% of primary, secondary and academy schools across the country.

Recommendations advise that academy buildings will have to significantly reduce electrical consumption if they are to meet existing Government commitments to CO2 reductions.

Professor Koen Steemers, head of the department of architecture at the University of Cambridge and one of the report authors said:

‘This research shows that design strategies to reduce the heat loss have been moderately effective but have been offset by increasing electricity demands, for mechanical ventilation, lighting or equipment.’