A ground-sourced heat pump system has been fitted at the Orton Wistow Primary School, reports the Peterborough Evening Telegraph.The system, which received a Carbon Trust grant, extracts natural heat from the ground for use in under-floor heating.Its running costs are expected to be half those of a conventional gas-fired boiler system.Year Four pupil Lorcan Elliott, age nine, told the newspaper that the system would stop heat loss. The school's £1.3 million eco-friendly development, which comprises five new classrooms, will open in September.It will be managed by Peterborough city council and include solar panels and a green roof made of a grass-like plant called sedum.This will allow rainwater to be collected and used to flush the toilets and improve the air quality by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen.The school has 316 pupils aged four to 11.Headteacher Simon Eardley told the paper that he hoped the new construction would be reproduced nationwide and "become the standard to be imitated".
