schools in focus CASE STUDY
23
Once you’re able to monitor your energy output, control it and put a sustainable plan in place to save energy, your school will be in good place to vastly reduce its expenditure –but this is more than just saving money. “Eliminating the school energy bill is a very rewarding activity – and it goes far beyond the obvious financial benefit,” Webber comments. “We have added real learning resources and value to our curriculum, increased the network of schools we work with and we even now have international school projects involving our pupils.” When the next phase of renewables is installed – wind power and
biomass heating – the college will reach a net annual energy bill of zero from a starting point of £100,000. However, this was not without help.
Eliminating the school energy bill is a very rewarding activity – and it goes far beyond the obvious financial benefit
WELL AWARDED
Clockwise from top: solar panels on the roof; meter readings; sixth former and green campaigner Bryony Franco; Keith Webber, energy manager; Daryll Chapman, principal; and the wind turbine
If you’re a school on a mission to save energy, you are not alone. “There is plenty of help, encouragement and indeed financial support for this quest from the likes of the Ashden Awards, Edf Energy Green Fund and recently we won a massive international award – the biggest of its kind – the Zayed Future Energy Prize, which is providing $100,000 towards our wind turbine project,” recounts Webber. “All schools could do this and indeed are encouraged to apply. It’s a no brainer – save energy, have a plan to install renewables and win an award.” He is particularly praiseworthy of the Ashden Awards’s LESS CO2 programme, where schools can get practical help and support from other schools on their sustainable energy journey.
Getting to grips with how to efficiently operate the heating controls – “On a large site this is very significant,” he says. “Heating controls can be very confusing”
Better managing the college’s 600 computers – “If these are left on unnecessarily the bill rockets,” he says
Looking for all the curriculum links to promote energy awareness in the context of school and at home
Technical measures to save energy – including low energy lighting for the college’s 3,000 lights, removal of unnecessary heaters and lights, insulation upgrades, thermostatic radiator valves, refinements to the building management system (making sure sensors are in the most appropriate locations), double glazing, and draught proofing
Renewable energy installations – 80kW of solar PV and the college is about to add 22kW of wind power and 199kW of biomass heating
And energy monitoring systems. “If you can measure it you can manage it,” says Webber. “For example,” he adds, “it was only when we started to display our gas meter that we realised the heating was coming on at 2am.”
USEFUL LINKS
ZAYED FUTURE ENERGY PRIZE
www.zayedfutureenergyprize.com
ASHDEN AWARDS
www.ashden.org
EDF ENERGY GREEN FUND
www.edfenergy.com/products-services/for-your-home/ our-services/
green-energy-fund.shtml
SWITCH OFF FORTNIGHT
www.jointhepod.org/campaigns/switch-off-fortnight
His advice for schools going after grants is be ready to put in work – with less funding from the Government to help environmental initiatives, private endowments have become more competitive. Schools need to show that it’s committed to energy savings, he says. “It’s no use just saying ‘we’ll just have some solar panels’ and then just waste all the energy – that’s just unscrupulous. They need to actually demonstrate that they’re in control of their energy and have a desire not to waste it. There’s got to be that culture sign-up.” It’s perhaps with his physics hat on that Webber applies logic to saving energy. “It’s simple maths,” he says. “One hundred and ninety school days at eight hours equals 1,520 hours per year. In total, there are 8,760 hours per year, so anything left on constantly will cost you nearly six times as much as it needs to. Apply this to your heating, air conditioning, computer network and 3,000 lights and it is thousands of pounds over a year.”
www.edexec.co.uk / april 2013
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