Tips for home, work, school
Energy Saving tips for school, home and work...
Schools may be able to reduce energy costs by 10 to 20% by using energy more efficiently. There may also be some opportunities to use renewable energy instead of fossil fuels such as wood energy in boilers, or solar water heating to heat swimming pools.
Energy in schools is mainly used for:
- Heating and cooling
- Lighting
- Equipment such as computers
- Hot water
- Swimming pools
You can start saving now...
Lighting
- Turn off lights when not in use-lighting accounts for nearly 50% of the electric bill in most schools. There's no reason to leave lights on if a room is empty for more than one minute.
- Form a student energy patrol to ensure lights are out when rooms are empty (check classrooms, the hall, etc.)
- Have students make signs and stickers to remind people to turn off the lights when they leave a room.
- light switches where people can find and operate them.
- Replacing incandescent light bulbs with CFLs
Heating and Cooling
It's expensive to heat and cool school buildings, but indoor temperatures must be comfortable so teachers can concentrate on teaching and kids can concentrate on learning.
Where classrooms or other areas are uncomfortably cold or draughty, find out why and fix the problem.
- Keep bookcases and other bulky items away from the heating and cooling units so they don't block and/or absorb the warm (or cool) air that should be coming into the room.
- Install programmable thermostats in areas like the hall to minimize operating hours of the heating and cooling systems during low occupancy periods.
- Turn down heat in the hallways. And keep classroom doors closed. Otherwise, the heat runs down the hall and outside, where it is wasted to the outdoors.
Draughts
Look for simple draught beating strategies.
- Have students help replace insulation and stuff energy loss 'holes' through innovative measures, such as making 'insulation snakes' to put at the bottom of doors and windows.
- Work with facility staff to install permanent weather stripping and insulation.
Computers
- If your school computers have power-management features, make sure controls are set so they will go into the 'sleep' mode when not in active use. (Screen savers don't save energy - only the sleep mode does.)
- Students should turn off monitors that will not be used for the next class period. All computer equipment should be turned off at the end of the day and on weekends, unless your network technicians specifically instruct otherwise.
- Form a student energy patrol to make sure monitors are off when computers are not in use and to turn computers off at the end of the day.
- Is your school purchasing new equipment? Save 50% on energy costs by using Energy Star computers, monitors, printers, fax machines, copiers and other equipment.
Appliances
Maintain appliances and replace old appliances.
- Have students use a watt meter to study how much electricity a device uses. This is useful in determining which appliances are outdated and less efficient.
- Have students conduct a survey of the number of appliances in each classroom and encourage teachers to take away unneeded appliances.
- Clean refrigerator coils regularly.
Involve the whole school
- Get the entire school involved. Energy savings add up when the entire school joins together in conservation efforts.
- Publicise energy costs and savings. When people know how much it costs to power their school, they can see why it's worth some extra effort to avoid waste.
General Tips
- Plant trees, they will absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere - make sure you plant local natives!
- Use public transport or your bike to get to school or work
- Reduce rubbish by recycling and composting - it also helps to use recycled products.
