By Nikki Marshall
Posted on July 6, 2009. Listed in:
A Marlborough school principal recently had a lesson in the ABC’s of energy saving and dollar crunching from a local accredited Eco Smart Electrician, and is now very keen to pass on this knowledge to staff and pupils.
Not only does Bohally Intermediate School head, Brian Tuffey, see the immense importance of preserving our planet for this and future generations but he has learned the real monetary value of energy saving for a school the size of his.
Mr Tuffey sought the help of Laser Electrical – a Blenheim based business which recently became accredited by the Electrical Contractors Association of New Zealand as EcoSmart Electricians. He says they were more than keen to assist him and the school and it took two guys a day to complete the onsite energy audit. He is now left with a 30 page report to read and a list of changes to make.
The first major change will be to switch energy providers. By doing this, and reviewing their lighting and heating, Laser Electrical calculated that the school could cut its power costs by around 30 percent a year.
The change of energy providers and plans can make a significant difference to a power bill, and it is so simple. So is swapping normal fluorescent lighting tubes to Phillips Eco Tubes. Not only will the school be saving energy with more efficient tubes but they will also reduce the school carbon emissions by over 33,000 metric tonnes a year. The monetary savings are also impressive – around 17 percent.
The Eco Tube can last about 16,000 hours as opposed to the normal tubes which have a lamp life of about 2,000 hours. The cost difference is therefore quite dramatic when you take into account the maintenance and disposal costs as well.
According to Darren Watts (yes his name is very appropriate) of Laser Electrical, “Bohally Intermediate will make an energy saving of about $7000 a year and around $5,000 in maintenance costs. Because of OSH rules, most businesses are required to have an electrician change any lamps.
Admittedly there are upfront costs to implementing these energy efficiencies, but according to Mr Watts, any of these recommended changes would have a payback of about 12 months. And, once implemented, the savings would accumulate year on year.
Laser Electrical also assessed Bohally’s heating systems. A combination of radiators run off a costly diesel boiler; radiant heating and electric under floor heating; and, about 10 newish heat pumps; all have lead to rising power and fuel bills. This is mainly due to the ‘mis-management‘ of these systems.
Mr Watts disclosed that weeks of energy is wasted a year with teachers setting heat pumps on timers to come on in the early hours of the morning and to switch off late at night.
And, these settings are not altered during the school holidays!The worst example of energy wastage was the library with its electric under floor heating and radiant heaters in the ceiling which are operated by one simple switch - on or off. Not to mention the times the door gets left wide open and the heat still pumping out!
Even though the problem areas have been identified, and the solutions fairly simple (for example centralised timers for the heating, fitting insulating wraps to the hot water cylinders, and installing occupancy sensors in the case of some of the lighting), there is still one even more important change to make – behaviour.
Mr Tuffey feels strongly about the future and how the generations of children passing through the school’s gates will be the key instigators of environmental behaviour change. The curriculum already dictates a certain amount of learning in the area of environmental management and schools across the country (and the world) are definitely going several steps further. For example, the schools which participate in the Enviro Schools programme.
Bohally, like a number of local schools, have an edible garden with a worm farm for food recycling. One classroom is recycling shredded office paper to make fire bricks. And, the school’s principal has taken the initiative to get free paper recycling bins from a firm called Paper4Trees who give the school tree seedlings in return for the paper recycled.
According to Mr Tuffey there are a number of businesses out their marketing direct to schools in a bid to sell them environmentally friendly products and services. Another one he quoted was The Ark – a firm that recycles computers.
I am sure Brian Tuffey is pleased to have gone on this valuable learning journey with Laser Electrical and EcoSmart Electricians, and he is no doubt looking forward to seeing the school reap the end benefits.
The school, which recently rose from the ashes of a grim ERO report to a glowing one this year with Mr Tuffey at the helm, is set to provide a positive and environmentally responsible future for generations to come.
Editors Note: Nikki Marshall runs the Eco answers website, with the aim of passing people on to the experts who can tell them where they are losing energy in their homes and to the professionals who can help make changes.
More great stuff on Celsias:
It Takes a School to Save Louisiana Wetlands.
No Child Left Inside: Why We Need to Get Kids Outside.
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Photo: Solar Sam- Courtesy of The Marlborough Express.
