Peterborough Green School Extension

27 July 2010, 11:51 | Updated: 27 July 2010, 12:02

Construction work on the most environmentally friendly school extension in Cambridgeshire has started in Peterborough.

The new buildings will replace two old mobile units at St John Clare Primary School in Helpston.

Peterborough City Council says it will produce 8kg of Carbon Dioxide for every square metre each year, compared to normal good practice of 31kg per square metre per year.

It will have timber framed walls and floor made of wood from sustainable sources.

The building will also have low energy lighting, a roof covered with a plant called sedum to provide insulation, and insulation made from recycled newspapers.

In addition to all of that, toilets will be flushed with rainwater collected from the roof.

The project is costing £450,000.

Samantha Dalton, the city council's cabinet member for environment capital, said: "This project is a great example of the cutting edge environmental techniques being employed by the council's property design and maintenance team.

Working in such forward thinking ways when it comes to environmental attributes builds on our growing reputation as the home of environment capital."