Innovations

Introduction from Balfour Beatty 5

Partnering 7 Partnership Assessment Tool 8

Schools design best practice 11 The Matrix 13

The Matrix future developments 15

Whole life costing 19 Proving sustainable and renewable energy technology 21 have real value

Environmental sustainability 25 I Love My Environment 27

Low carbon schools 28

Regeneration and community engagement 31 Building Learning Communities 33 Meet the Buyers 35 Vocational interface group 37

Construction-led innovation 39 Joint procurement initiative 41 Standardisation and modularisation 45 Construction Learning Hub 46

ICT integration 51 Transformschoolspace 52 Using Transformschoolspace 53 The future of Transformschoolspace 54

Balfour Beatty Innovations /Contents

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These are exciting times in education, as local authorities and schools rise to the challenge of delivering ICT-enabled, project-based personalised and vocational learning against a background of rapid demographic and social change.

Our clients expect Balfour Beatty to support their response to these challenges by providing outstanding value for money, collaborative working arrangements and vocational learning opportunities. This document sets out how we are meeting that expectation, through research and development initiatives and innovation in areas that make a difference.

We hope you’ll find the contents of this brochure encouraging. If there are particular areas that interest you and you’d like to find out more give us a call. Equally, if you think that we have missed something important then we’d like to hear from you, as our programmes are continuously evolving to meet the needs of the local authorities and schools that we serve.

Chris WhiteheadManaging Director (New Business) Balfour Beatty Capital

Harry TownleyBusiness Development Director Balfour Beatty Construction

Introduction/from Balfour Beatty

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Partnering

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Two-way communication

Audit of existing arrangements using ODPM Strategic Partnership

Assessment Tool

Partnershipworkshop

Balancedscorecard

Annual action planFor achieving the KPIs:

maintain/improve/change

Monitoring and learningMonitoring by reference to the

ODPM tool and the KPIs

Partnership boardCouncil, TSRL, Schools, School Councils,Communities, Youth Services, SureStart

Innovationand progress

Partneringcharter

Annual report to partnership board

Objectives and KPIsDirection Values

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Partnering /Partnership Assessment Tool

There is a lot written about the economic and political aspects of PFI projects, but there is very little understanding of the complex and challenging reality that managers face as they seek to manage and build effective partnerships.

Balfour Beatty, in collaboration with the Economic and Social Research Council, is seeking to address this important gap in knowledge by systematically exploring the experiences of managers and stakeholders who have experienced the PPP process first hand.

The research will allow Balfour Beatty to further develop its current partnering model, which was launched in 2004 and is based on the Office for the Deputy Prime Minister’s (ODPM) Strategic Partnership Assessment Tool.

The primary data collection method is one-to-one interviews with senior managers and stakeholders, evenly distributed across the public and private side of a number of PPP projects. This includes local authority managers who have been involved in managing the contract, council officers who are in liaison with the schools and a sample of school representatives.

Each project will be carefully analysed to identify specific themes and areas for improvement. This will provide Balfour Beatty and its partners with:

an honest appraisal of their partnership practices with the purpose of inspiring positive change

an enhanced integrated model for engagement

Schools design best practice

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Schools design best practice /The Matrix

Balfour Beatty is committed to research and development across many areas of its business. To better understand best practice in schools design, the company has worked with Sheffield University to create a research tool known as The Matrix.

Created in 2005, The Matrix is an interactive resource illustrating examples of best practice and innovation in school design over the preceding 10 years predominantly from the UK and Europe. It was created for a number of reasons:

to provide inspiration for creating new school buildings

to broaden stakeholder horizons

to stimulate further and deeper investigation and move away from conventional standards and stereotypes

to initiate a programme of research and continuing improvement and development

The Matrix is a fully searchable database embracing a wide range of styles and approaches. Each case study includes a general summary and simple notes of what is special or notable about that particular school as well as links to the source material and further information.

The studies give a clear illustration of the differences between primary and secondary schools, particularly in their attitude towards space, scale and curriculum. They provide good examples of the types and use of circulation or social space, of entrances and the public face of the school. They also illustrate the need for further development of solutions to problem areas such as toilets, cloakrooms and changing facilities. The choice of appropriate materials, flexible classrooms, engagement with external spaces and environmental/sustainability issues are considered. All this is critically important in the delivery of new schools through the BSF programme and more widely as education progressively transforms.

Schools best design practice /The Matrix future developments

The Matrix is currently being updated to include other ‘great’ contemporary spaces that are very appropriate to schools but are not school buildings (i.e. Laban Dance Centre, Ideas Store, libraries and higher education buildings). Selection criteria has been reduced and is now more focused on issues that our recent experience has shown to be most relevant to current procurement programmes.

Integrated environmental design We take a holistic approach to sustainability and

environmental design. Considerations such as acoustics, lighting, heating, water conservation, energy efficiency and localised energy production are of high priority.

Integrated flexibility for space and learning New types of integrated learning environments

are vital to learning success. Innovative designs and intelligent solutions to specialist activities are essential.

Integrated social and physical context The Matrix challenges us to design external playground space which also provides an innovative ‘external classroom’ environment. This integration of both internal and external spaces transforms the school into a local landmark where every aspect of the environment’s design plays a vital role in the development of an inspirational, joined-up and effective centre for learning.

Innovative solutions to specific areas or smaller spaces Small design features can make a huge difference to the quality and effectiveness of the educational experience. By implementing innovative solutions to key areas like toilets, social spaces and entrances, it is possible to ensure that the learning experience is as good as that enjoyed in larger schools.

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Examples of heroic failure There are examples of exemplary design that never

made it to construction. Whether the concepts were lost in translation or the victim of circumstance, there is still much that can be learnt and much that can be utilised in modern school design.

Responses to developing integrated ICT Truly integrated ICT will have a hugely positive effect on the quality of learning. This is achieved by employing a variety of innovative solutions including: dedicated virtual mentoring spaces; plasma information boards; multiple technology access points and intelligent Building Management Systems. More flexible formal and informal teaching locations can also have a large effect on learning uptake.

New pedagogies and blended learning styles The make-up and dynamics of learning groups

is vital in maximising learning potential. Through the use of varied teaching styles like personalised learning, small learning groups and standard lecture room lessons, it is possible to keep the educational experience fresh and improve student performance.

This varied approach to the physical environment where lessons are delivered is a cornerstone to The Matrix and its approach.

Examples of stakeholder and user participation in the design process While many school examples offer innovation and creativity in certain key areas, it is rare for a single school to excel in all criteria.

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Whole life costing

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Over the last 12 months Balfour Beatty has been pushing forward the use of low carbon technology in its Hospitals, Schools and Housing PFI/PPP projects.

Whole life costing and CO2 reduction studies have shown that rising utilities costs and renewable energy targets (typically 10-20% of energy coming from renewable sources) are being set by procurers and are encouraging new solutions.

Balfour Beatty Capital’s whole life costing strategy is part of a co-ordinated and integrated cross-Balfour Beatty Group response to the issue of providing value for money and sustainable solutions. There are a range of technologies that have been considered.

Biomass heating and ground source heat pumps are two of the more well known and successful technologies that have shown:

reduced whole life costs

initial payback of less than 10 years

savings of 4-5 times the initial investment

Whole life costing /Proving sustainable and renewable energy technology have real value

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Biomass boilers are being included at Fife Hospital and are also being considered for Enniskillen Hospital and Myatts Field Housing. This solution can bring all the convenience and efficiency of a traditional fossil fuel boiler but using a renewable energy source which is in abundant supply across the UK.

Either wood chip or wood pellets may be used for best efficiency but the boilers have the ability to burn other biomass fuels if required. These are obtained commercially and are considered to be carbon neutral having absorbed carbon during their growth providing they do not have to be transported over long distances. Due to the high combustion temperatures, the fuel is entirely clean burning and suitable for use in smokeless fuel areas. For larger systems they are more likely to be considered as part of a modular system rather than displacing conventional boilers completely. Such systems can offer a coefficient of performance (heat output to electrical energy input of between three and four) achieving good savings on energy when compared with traditional fossil fuels.

Ground source heat pumps are being used at Knowsley and Islington Schools. They are used to heat a building by extracting heat from the ground and upgrading it to a more useful temperature.

The heat pump consists of a ground heat exchanger, a heat pump and a distribution system. The ground heat exchanger is a sealed loop of pipe buried either vertically or horizontally in the ground. The refrigerant can be circulated directly through the ground heat exchanger or indirectly where a water/antifreeze solution circulates in the ground loop and energy is transferred from the heat pump refrigerant circuit via a heat exchanger (a closed loop system).

Biomass boilersSaving 20-30% of the CO2 generated across a site

Ground source heat pumpsSaving 5-10% of in-site wide CO2

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Environmental sustainability

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Environmental sustainability /I Love My Environment

In 2007 Transform Schools and Haden Building Management Limited launched ‘I Love My Environment’, the flagship initiative designed to support schools to become more sustainable in their buildings, curriculum and community. The set of resources have been compiled in line with the DCSF Sustainable Schools guidelines, although they can equally apply to Eco or Healthy Schools activities. In addition to resources, audits and project ideas, the initiative brings cash rewards to those schools achieving best against their own Action Plans. Most exciting is the opportunity for schools to win an electric powered kit car, which they can engineer and race, representing their area in an annual Transform Schools Green Grand Prix.

By encouraging the schools to focus on sustainability all stakeholders benefit from an improved sense of ownership from staff and pupils, as they are incentivised to look after their facilities, reduce wear and tear, pay attention to litter and graffiti levels, and monitor energy. It also encourages the wider community to get involved with the school and reap benefits from the new or improved facilities.

The best form of security for these sites is respect from the community that surrounds them, and this is particularly important in the context of PFI managed schools.

To address the growing need to incorporate approaches to sustainability and low carbon technologies within school designs, Balfour Beatty Capital/Balfour Beatty Construction/ Balfour Kilpatrick have commissioned a research project to identify international best practice in delivering low carbon schools. One of the key aims of the research is to create an effective model for engaging with educational clients on the subject of sustainability and developing an evidence base and materials which support that model.

A strong research team has been assembled to carry out this project and will draw upon the knowledge already present within the supply chain members of Cottrell and Vermeulen, and BDP Engineering.

The research will review current best practice in the design of school and other building typologies in the UK and overseas, it will look at building design and how it relates to teaching, technology and the

contribution of user behaviour to high environmental performance. The proposed initial outputs of the research are as follows:

collation of existing information and research – to identify what is already known nationally and internationally

carbon footprint analysis of a secondary school – to identify the proportion of emissions produced by a school

process for engaging stakeholders – to propose methodologies for engaging participants

process for integrating sustainability – to create a clear structure for the planning and delivery stages

report on ‘Education for Sustainability’ and behavioural aspects – to identify what works best

Ultimately the research will assist with the decisions that we, our partners and our clients make in future.

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Environmental sustainability /Low carbon schools

The research will review current best practice in the design of schools and other building typologies in the UK and overseas.

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Regeneration and community engagement

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Regeneration and community engagement /Building Learning Communities

One of the challenges of bidding is to create a solution for third party income from lettings of the school facilities and balancing this with the ever increasing focus on the school as a community learning resource. Transform Schools’ solution is to offer all income as a reinvestment opportunity for the local authority and, at the same time, maximise and reinforce a partnership approach.

Building Learning Communities is a not-for-profit framework, which to date has been used to manage lettings, with partnership governance between Transform Schools, the local authority and other key partners as appropriate to the area, which, in Rotherham, for example includes the PCT and youth services. However, the potential for this model to manage other services, such as Extended Schools or regeneration initiatives, is completely open – the partnership agrees the scope in the company set-up stages. Two key features of Building Learning

Communities, in addition to a partnership governance, is the opportunity for local stakeholders to be involved in local area management groups; a ‘by the community for the community ethos’ and the operation of a ‘mixed economy’ approach to charges. This requires marketing to encourage commercial lettings in order that they can subsidise the community organisations whose rates are set according to their ability to pay. Other benefits of this approach include:

efficient managed lettings service from a single point of contact across all schools

freeing up school resources previously spent managing bookings, invoicing, etc.

supporting extended school provision

enabling community access to learning and leisure facilities

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Regeneration and community engagement /Meet the Buyers

2007 saw the delivery of the first of our ‘new look’ Meet the Buyers events. Designed to take the focus away from presenting information, the events were aimed instead at providing a one-stop facility for local small and medium sized enterprises.

Through careful preparation, questionnaires and planning with the region’s economic development agencies, the single day event gave companies the opportunity for individual interviews with procurement officers. This allowed the officer to identify strengths and gaps in the companies’ experience, access local training and business development opportunities for them and establish the potential for their involvement in the project supply chain or site services.

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Regeneration and community engagement /Vocational interface group

The Birmingham Schools PPP2 project team has developed an innovative approach to ensuring opportunities for schools and colleges are maximised and understood as a holistic offer from primary school challenges to graduate training.

Transform Schools, Balfour Beatty Construction and Balfour Kilpatrick formed the group and they meet regularly to ensure an innovative and active programme. This has generated considerable energy from other local partners such as Education Business Advisors, Connexions and Construction Skills (formerly CiTB).

One of the key outputs was a Skills Exchange Day, in which teaching staff and the joint venture partners worked together to explore the best ways to work together to the benefit of the young people, and from which an extensive Action Plan was created. The most important element of this was a recognised shared responsibility for delivering the opportunities, and many of the planned events have already been delivered, some led by Transform Schools, some by the schools themselves.

Construction-led innovation

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Construction-led innovation /Joint procurement initiative

Balfour Beatty Construction has put in place long-term procurement frameworks based on future workload in both the health and education sectors.

Supply chain partners are identified and procurement undertaken through a process integrated between Balfour Beatty Construction, Balfour Kilpatrick, Haden Young, HBML and Balfour Beatty Capital.

Each framework is designed to bring benefits to all stakeholders.

Client benefits For the client this means that they are assured of real supply chain management. Having a framework with a core supplier ensures that there are key safety and delivery criteria which must be met to maintain the ongoing relationship for future projects. The long term relationship brings learning through experience which new clients can benefit from

providing both benefit and risk reduction. Life cycle costs for the client can be better managed as there will be increased confidence in the quality and installation of the products delivered.

Benefits to Balfour Beatty For the company, frameworks such as these mean that a standard product specification can be set with proven quality products. This reduces the potential risks of using a new supplier and ensures confidence in what will be delivered. In addition, long term relationships bring pricing benefits and cost certainty, protecting against inflation. By having a long term supplier relationship the company can benefit from supplier innovation and the sharing of ideas between the two parties. Contracts are in place which means that there are both time and cost savings as new deals do not have to be negotiated with each new project.

Benefits to the supplier Long term supplier relationships give a commitment from both parties to future work providing a supplier with a long term method of managing and growing their own business. Frameworks show buyer confidence and can improve the reputation and recognition of a supplier. As well as new business they can provide an option to negotiate ongoing maintenance work for a significant number of years. Through frameworks, a supplier can have access to greater opportunities within the Balfour Beatty Group.

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Supply chain partners are identified and procurement undertaken through a process integrated between Balfour Beatty Construction, Balfour Kilpatrick, HBML Haden Young and Balfour Beatty Capital.

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Construction-led innovation /Standardisation and modularisation

In an increasingly competitive market, timescales for the build process are reducing and there is more pressure for companies to deliver fully finished buildings in shorter periods of time. In order to meet these demands there is a need for continuous improvement and innovation.

Modularisation refers to any unit that comes on a frame delivered to site. The unit can consist of finished services, fully tested, lagged and fully identified. A unit can be many different things, for example:

a bathroom pod

plant

a set of services that run down a corridor

For example, Balfour Kilpatrick make use of a services module that runs down the centre of a corridor. The modules arrive fully finished and simply need to be connected, making it possible to install 60-70 metres of services per day, where previously it would have taken two weeks.

At Bassetlaw Schools, prefabricated pipework was compared with traditional installation and resulted in 203 fewer man hours needed to complete the job, creating a saving of 26%.

These time and cost savings benefit Balfour Beatty, our clients, employees, communities and the environment. Safety is improved as there are less people required on site and those that are there spend less time working at height. The prefabricated modules are created in a controlled environment that improves the quality and reliability of the delivered product. Finally the number of deliveries to site is reduced which benefits the local community and the environment by reducing noise, congestion and CO2 emissions.

Modern manufacturing techniques such as this are critical in making a difference to the way in which we meet our customers’ needs.

The Construction Learning Hub is a demountable facility currently based on the Newall Green High School site in Wythenshawe, part of the Manchester Schools Framework project. The facility has a ten year lifespan and can be moved up to four times across the city to enable learning to be delivered where it is needed most.

Its purpose is to significantly increase the number of young people and adults who are able to enter the construction industry with a qualification and site experience through the implementation of Manchester’s first Learning Hub.

It has been developed by Balfour Beatty in partnership with Manchester City Council and the Manchester College of Arts and Technology (MANCAT). MANCAT will provide all the training courses through their own skilled team and the trainees will be recruited through MANCAT’s current waiting list.

Construction-led innovation /Construction Learning Hub

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The Learning Hub will offer on-site skills training for up to 600 construction workers over its lifespan and will provide training for two key types of learner:

those from the local community who are new to the construction industry with the goal of moving them into employment on site

experienced workers within the Manchester Schools Framework supply chain who wish to improve their skills and qualifications

The facility will also enable school pupils to access vocational training on the site.

A key driver behind Manchester City Council’s support for this initiative is the opportunity to increase the number of unskilled people moving into training and employment, which in turn will result in social and economic benefits for the local area.

The Learning Hub will also aid the regeneration of Wythenshawe, a neighbourhood in the south of Manchester, by bringing new opportunities to the local community.

Modernapprenticeships

Trainees

New constructiontrainees

IntermediateConstruction Award

Higher NVQs / HNC / Degrees

ConstructionLearning Hub

Experienced workers with a CSCS card

gaining construction qualifications

Experienced workers gaining technical/

professional qualifications

Experienced workers without a CSCS card

Existing workforce

Skills match

CSCS card

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Its purpose is to significantly increase the number of young people and adults who are able to enter the construction industry with a qualification and site experience.

ICT integration

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ICT integration /Transformschoolspace

Transformschoolspace is an online blank canvas. Every school has the opportunity to use this space as a platform for communication. It’s a tool which is free for all schools within the Transform Schools network and it is up to the school how they use it.

This space was developed by Balfour Beatty to give schools the opportunity to allow pupils to contribute. Transformschoolspace is simplistic in design and easy to manage, which is the ideal environment for pupil interaction.

Young people today are increasingly web literate, using it to access different types of media – vodcasts, audio clips, blogs etc. This space encourages pupils to communicate information about their school using new media:

it is a platform which can showcase school activities as reported by the pupils themselves

it is a place where pupils can be responsible for writing articles and a teacher simply has to click a button to publish them

it can be used in lessons or as an extra curricular activity as a platform for a school press team

ICT integration / Using Transformschoolspace

Each school can personalise their space by choosing colour scheme, adding school logos and deciding on the content categories, e.g. arts, sports, environment etc.

The site is designed to appeal to pupils and to encourage their participation. The space was developed to give schools an opportunity to use this as an informal platform for communication with stakeholders such as parents and new starters.

It has been designed with a simple content management system to make it easy for pupils to use and for teachers to authorise content.

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ICT integration /The future of Transformschoolspace

We are currently rolling out the first phase for Transformschoolsspace. This involves giving the application to schools who would like to use it.

Phase two, which will roll out later in 2008, is to develop the Balfour Beatty network across the UK. Through Transformschoolspace, press teams from Knowsley will have the opportunity to discuss their latest environmental initiatives with their peers in North Lanarkshire who have just completed a project on wind farms. The school drama club from Stoke can link up with other school drama clubs to form a regional network through which they can arrange visits to critique each other’s plays or review vodcasts online.

Phase three will see Transformschoolspace developed on an international level. Balfour Beatty has built schools in New York and Florida, with other projects in the pipeline in places such as Singapore. Schools within the Balfour Beatty network will have the opportunity to communicate on an international platform within a secure environment. By linking up schools around the globe teachers will have the opportunity to explore the learning potential that these links can create.

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