Energy
Energy use is a world-wide concern.
Everyone, including school communities, has an important role to play in increasing awareness of energy issues and improving energy efficiency.
The amount of energy the world uses every day has trebled over the past century. To keep up with the growing demand for energy to heat and light our homes and power our industries, power stations are burning more and more fossil fuels. As well as using up limited natural resources, this process is releasing increasing volumes of carbon dioxide (CO2) – the gas most responsible for global climate change – into the atmosphere.
Energy use will continue to increase. It has been calculated that, if present energy consumption trends continue, by 2010 global energy consumption and CO2 emissions will rise by almost 50% above 1993 levels.
Increasing evidence supports global warming. Between 1949 and 1989, tropical ocean surface temperatures increased by half a degree Celsius. Since 1983, there has been an 8% decrease in snow cover on the continents of the northern hemisphere.
Energy Schools
The energy required for heating, lighting and powering equipment in an ordinary school classroom releases about 4,000 kg of CO2 every year – enough to fill four hot-air balloons 10 metres in diameter. UK schools spend about £450m on energy each year, three times as much as they do on books, and about 3.5% of their budgets.
Some schools will spend four times more per pupil than similar schools in the same region. The difference is often to do with how effectively schools manage their energy use. Surveys show that, through simple low-cost and no-cost measures, schools can reduce their fuel bills by up to 10% while also reducing their CO2 emissions.
Schools with buildings that have a floor area in excess of 1000m² are required to have a Display Energy Certificate (DEC). This was effective from end December 2008. DECs have been introduced to raise public awareness of the actual energy use and energy efficiency of the buildings they visit. A DEC certificate presents the actual energy use of a building on an A-G scale where A is the most energy efficient and G is the least. The certificate is similar to those that are required for fridges and other new white goods.
The DEC has to be displayed in a prominent place visible to the public. It must be updated each year and will need to be accompanied by an ‘advisory report’ listing measures to improve the performance. This report can last up to seven years before it too will need to be updated, but will not be required to be displayed along with the DEC.
How can Sustainable Learning help your school?
Sustainable Learning has been offering A-G style certificates to schools since September 2007 to give them an indication of their likely DEC rating. The certificates are not compliant but have prepared schools for the process. These A-G certificates are also available to smaller schools that may not be affected by the initial legislation but wish to have an indication of how their school site is performing and how this compares to other similar schools.
If your Education & Library Board has already provided your energy data to the Government Department, you can simply download your certificate from the NI Sustainable Learning website.
Further Information
All Eco-Schools are required to carry out an energy audit as part of their Environmental Review and then set targets for reducing unnecessary energy use through their Action Plan. Visit the Case Studies section for more details on how other Eco-Schools have tackled this issue. It is also worth visiting the Partners section for further information on how our Delivery Partners can advice and support schools to help them reduce their energy use.