Saving Energy at School
Generations born in the 1980s or earlier probably won’t see the day when we will run out of oil nor suffer the consequences of more than a century long reckless fossil fuel burning. But our children and grandchildren will and for that reason it is crucial for them to understand the importance of energy saving from a young age. Saving energy at school thus won’t only help schools to lower their energy bills but it will also help children learn how they can save energy too and help prevent further damage to the environment.
To reduce energy consumption at school, it is recommended to create an energy plan, set goals and develop a method to measure the progress. There are, however, ways to save energy that can be implemented immediately such as:
Turning off the lights in classrooms that are not occupied. Lighting is one of the largest energy consumers in schools and a simple thing as turning off the lights in classrooms when not occupied can dramatically lower the school’s electricity bills. To help students adopt the same strategy at home as well, you can form student patrols with a task to make sure all lights are turned off in empty classrooms, have your students create reminders to turn off the lights after leaving classroom for homework, have them calculate the savings, etc.
Lower the thermostat for heating for one degree during the winter and increase air conditioning temperature for one degree during the warmer months. Heating and cooling are the greatest energy consumers in every building and schools are no exception. By lowering the thermostat for heating for just one degree during the cold months and increasing air conditioning temperature settings for one degree during the warmer months, your students won’t be any less comfortable. But the school’s energy bills will be much lower. Again, you can make it educative for the students, for example by instructing them to calculate how much energy less is used by changing the thermostat settings.
Evaluate energy consumption of your electricity powered appliances and equipment. Older appliances and equipment tend to consume more electricity than the newer ones. You can make evaluation of energy consumption of school’s electricity powered appliances and equipment an assignment for your students, instructing them to calculate how much energy a particular appliance uses. This will also help you identify the greatest energy consumers and which appliances and pieces of equipment should be replaced with more energy efficient ones.
Have all dripping taps repaired or replaced. Dripping hot water taps can dramatically raise your energy bills. But even if you have taps dripping cold water, you should have them repaired or replaced as well because water delivery and sanitation use energy too. Again, dripping tap problem can be used to educate your students about the importance of energy saving by having them calculate how much water is wasted if the tap drips one drop per second for instance.
Recycle. Put recycling bins in every classroom and instruct teachers and students to separate waste accordingly. To help students understand the benefits of recycling, divide them into several groups and have each group make a research on benefits of recycling in regard to saving money, energy, resources, preserving the environment, etc. and present their findings to the class.