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Energy Busters and Energy Futures, programmes for change in Norfolk Schools
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Sustainable Development Commission
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Over the last three years the Environmental and Outdoor Learning Team at Norfolk County Council, in partnership with the National Trust, have been running a scheme to raise awareness about energy and climate change in both primary (Energy Busters) and secondary schools (Energy Futures).
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Overview
Over the last three years the Environmental and Outdoor Learning Team at Norfolk County Council, in partnership with the National Trust, have been running a scheme to raise awareness about energy and climate change in both primary (Energy Busters) and secondary schools (Energy Futures).
This scheme connects with key elements of the National Curriculum and applies energy management concepts in the real world of the school environment. The aim is to engage the whole school community in thinking about energy and climate change through the process.
The scheme has demonstrated extensive cost savings in the 50+ schools that have already been engaged, reducing their average energy costs by 20 per cent, and helping to save money that can be reinvested within the school. Some schools were able to save over 30 per cent of their energy use simply through behavioural and no-cost measures.
The value of this scheme was spotted by Norfolk County Council (NCC) when it embarked on the Local Authority Carbon Management Scheme (a partnership venture with the Carbon Trust) from May 2007 until March 2008. The ensuing baseline work energy use in the authority’s buildings not only revealed how extensive NCC’s emissions were, but showed that 71 per cent of the overall footprint could be attributed to schools. To put this in cost terms, a recent projection suggests that of a total buildings energy bill of £8.6m per year, around £6m is down to Norfolk’s 441 schools.
If the Energy Busters scheme expanded to cover all schools in Norfolk, it may be possible to achieve a reduction of 9,000 tonnes CO2 per year, with a cost saving in excess of £1m per year. The ‘Invest to Save’ argument is clear, and a case is currently being made to expand the scheme in this way, linked to an allocation from Norfolk Children’s Services capital budget.
Future work will focus on enabling schools to engage with their wider communities - to which they are central. For example, among the performance indicators included within Norfolk's Local Area Agreement is an area-based climate change reduction target (NI 186 within the National Indicator Set). Having schools showcase good practice on energy management, and wider action on carbon emissions, can help to build, inspire and motivate action in communities. Norfolk sees this as a critical factor in supporting community action on climate change, and a great way to tap into the interests of young people who are justifiably concerned about their future lives.
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education
energy
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