The £250m partnership between Catalyst Lend Lease and Lancashire County Council to develop seven new schools in Lancashire is one of the largest of its kind in the country, and a part of the government's Private Finance Initiative (PFI).
The new schools are planned to be the most energy efficient in Britain.
The project has also helped local businesses and employers. Some £35m of work went to 20 companies throughout Lancashire and an additional £30m worth of contracts went to 20 other firms in and around Greater Manchester.
The schools, built on sites at Burnley Campus, Pendle Vale, in Nelson and Shuttleworth College in Padiham, are due to open in September.
"Our goal is to set new standards of sustainability," said David Snowdon, Catalyst Lend Lease's general manager of the Local Education Partnership with the county council. "They are designed, built and equipped for maximum energy efficiency and minimum carbon emissions.
"We also want them to be living and practical examples of sustainability in action - places of learning where pupils, parents, teachers and the public can all see for themselves how modern technology is helping us to tackle some of the critical issues of climate change."
Biomass boilers will make the biggest impact on the schools' carbon footprint. Designed and manufactured in Austria and fuelled by woodchips, they are virtually carbon neutral in operation. One biomass boiler has been installed at each site, serving as the main source of heat and hot water, supplemented by twin gas-fired boilers.
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