Three schools win national competition to secure £350,000 in energy makeovers

Pupils from across the country have danced their way to a greener future, winning the British Gas Generation Green Energy Performance 2014.

The national competition saw students from schools across the country submit a design for their ultimate eco-house, with the hope being invited down to the finals in London which took place yesterday. The six finalists, chosen from over 500 entries, competed on a specially commissioned dance floor, which captures the energy created by students’ dance steps and harvests it to generate electricity.  Beecholme Primary School in Mitcham, Alford Primary School in Aberdeenshire and Okehampton College in Devon triumphed against their competitors to win Energy Makeovers worth up to £150,000 each.

Diversity dance stars Jordan and Perri judged the competition, with the winning schools chosen based on the creativity of their routines and the amount of energy they produced.

The Generation Green Energy Performance forms part of British Gas’ ongoing commitment to inspire curiosity in young people and help bring energy to life. Last year, British Gas invested over £1.6 million installing energy saving equipment for schools through Generation Green, helping to save an estimated 400 tons of CO2 and saving the winning schools an estimated £100,000 a year on energy bills.

Teacher Keith Webb from Okehampton College said, “The students are so happy to have won such an incredible prize for the school, and we’re very proud of them. They’ve had an amazing day; the dance floor is a really interesting way to teach young people about sustainable energy, and dancing with Jordan and Perri has been great fun. We’re looking forward to making the most of this wonderful prize.”

Ambassadors Perri & Jordan from Diversity said; “We were really impressed by the dancing we saw today. The kids brought some electric moves to the floor and generated a lot of energy. It’s been great to judge the Generation Green Energy Performance, using new technology like a dance floor that turns movement into electricity makes energy easier to understand, and much more exciting to learn about.”

Abi Robins, Director of Corporate Responsibility Programmes at British Gas, said, “The aim of the Generation Green Energy Performance is to teach children about sustainability and inspire them to be curious about energy. We want to encourage young people to think about dynamic ways to reduce energy use within schools and the wider community, and help to create a generation of energy innovators. We can’t wait to see how [insert name of school] transform their school with the energy efficiency equipment.”

British Gas Generation Green provides free-of-charge learning resources and educational experiences, and invests millions of pounds in sustainable energy technologies for schools throughout the UK.

For more information about the British Gas Generation Green Energy Performance and to register for free learning resources, please visit: generationgreen.co.uk

To see a video of the event, please go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwhXmXfRQII