A free web-based game to help children understand where and when carbon dioxide is produced by buildings, and what can be done to reduce it, will be launched next week.

From concrete2cookers encourages pupils to explore their school environment and spot ways of reducing the school’s carbon emissions. The game, which will be available from April 1, uses recent research to simulate the CO2 consumption of a typical building and allows youngsters to make changes to design - the roof, walls and so on - and see the impact.

Researchers at Heriot-Watt University who designed the game, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, said: “The work seeks to increase awareness of the potential that marked shifts in design and construction methods have for maintaining our quality of life in a sustainable manner. Future building users must be inspired to demand new technologies and practices so that they will become commonplace without need for regulatory mandate.”

From concrete2cookers was developed with the assistance of more than 90 children from two primary and two secondary schools in Edinburgh and is aimed at P4-S2.

www.concrete2cookers.org.