The new term brings schools into a practical stage of environmental awareness. Schools have long taught children, the value of energy conservation and saving the environment. Now the Autumn term switches the spotlight onto the school's own environmental performance, as all public buildings with a total floor area of more than 1000m2, must by 1 October 2008 have a Display Energy Certificate (DEC) on public view. UK school estate currently accounts for 15 per cent of the UK public sector carbon emissions, so the sector has a significant role to play.
The Display Energy Certificate (DEC) shows the energy performance of a building based on actual energy consumption as recorded annually over periods up to the last three years, and the mandatory requirement will be enforced by Trading Standards Officers.
The new DECs include the familiar red, amber, green A to G energy efficiency category symbols applied to consumer electronics and recently to estate agents home specification details. There use will focus attention on the schools relative energy efficiency performance and record on-going improvements in this area.
The regulations apply to individual buildings, so school sites with more than one large building will need further certificates. The penalty is £500 for failing to display a DEC at all times in a prominent place clearly visible to the public, and £1,000 for failing to have possession of a valid advisory report. In addition to these penalties, it will still be necessary to commission the required report documents.
The new DECs bring a fresh focus on the importance of and in time recognition for energy saving efforts by educational institutes. If the pressure of public awareness through DECs is not enough to encourage energy saving measures, schools have the added spur of facing the largest ever increases in fuel bills in modern memory.
Many schools based in new energy efficient buildings have an immediate advantage. There are basic things however that all schools can do to save energy: Turning down the thermostat, closing blinds when rooms are vacant to conserve heat and opening blinds rather than switching on lights.
While many schools leave lighting on at night for security reasons. Schools should ensure that low energy lighting is used wherever possible. Recent product improvements stimulated by "green" demand mean that powerful low-energy bulbs that fit conventional bayonet sockets are available relatively cheaply. Low energy "Super Spiral Lamps" can now provide 425W of equivalent light (that's 7 x 60W light bulbs worth), from a single socket, but use only 85W of power.
Where schools monitor their energy consumption and carry out no-cost energy-saving measures they have often saved significantly on their energy bills. So having set the energy saving agenda, what other options exist to help schools improve their DEC ratings?
Schools need to review all their energy consuming activities, and the impact that future procurement decisions will make on their energy costs.
The use of ICT in education is policy and key to transforming learning, raising standards and engaging pupils. There are ways to reduce the environmental impact of ICT use. IT decisions and paying for the electricity consumed by IT activity, has in many organisations been under different departments, so the energy cost of ICT has in the past not received much attention.
The average desktop PC wastes considerable amounts of energy as heat. This wasted electricity translates into higher electricity bills and increased greenhouse gas emissions. It can also make classrooms too hot, and in some situations forces costly air-conditioning to work harder.
PCs and IT equipment can be demanding on electricity, so reducing their power demand will make a difference. Many older computers do not utilise any power saving features, and some are not capable of "hibernating" when left unattended.
Where computers are left on overnight and even during the school holidays, there is scope for significant savings, if computers are set-up with energy management facilities. Energy Star 4.0 is the benchmark for electrical equipment that all public purchasers are mandated to follow. It aims to save money and protect the environment through supporting more energy efficient products and practices. Energy Star 4.0 not only requires energy management features, but sets stringent power consumption levels for all modes of operation whether in sleep mode or normal use.
Not all computers that claim to be "eco-friendly", "energy efficient" or "green" will actually qualify under the Energy Star 4.0 standard, so be sure to check.
Laptops are increasingly popular and are low energy, although their batteries have a limited lifespan, and generally do not support all day battery use. Recharging and storage can be a time consuming resource issue, where a basic 2-3 hour battery life means they are only used for half the day. Portability makes laptops prone to accidental damage and theft. Some laptops are designed to run on low power, and bring longer use between recharges, although these often have small keyboards and screens, and lower performance processors.
Generally integrated "All-in-One" PCs offer lower overall power consumption than desktop PCs, because they share resources and the monitor is built in to the system unit, but not all integrated PCs are efficient. Schools choosing environmentally friendly ‘Low CO2 PCs' will benefit the environment, improve their DEC rating and save on energy costs typically around £100 per PC annually, which means that such PCs give a payback on the investment.
For further information - Contact the Akhter Group - 01279 821200. Our technologies include solar panels, low energy lighting, long-life rechargeable batteries, as well as low energy PCs and notebook PCs.
