The UK Government's Building Schools for the Future programme has provided schools with a unique opportunity to improve education for sustainable development substantially by giving pupils the chance to study within a real-life context. This article documents an engagement project in which experts in low-energy building design are facilitating numerous engagement events with schools across Leicester city. Engagement mechanisms and techniques used to communicate the science and engineering associated with the design and operation of low-energy schools are discussed. The results demonstrate an increase in pupils' knowledge and understanding of low-energy school design, which enables them to have detailed discussions with the designers and architects of their new schools. (Contains 4 figures.)