1. Energy blog
The next task in our Comenius Project – HUGES
Nowadays, we use energy in lots of different activities. Although scientific and
technological advance have allowed a more efficient production, distribution and use of
energy, most countries have increased the amount of energy they are globally using.
We are also aware of the fact that the kind of energy we use also affects the
environment in general. Environmental problems such as global warming or climate
changes must be quickly solved.
In the near future we will have to reduce our dependency on non-renewable
energies the sources of which will soon come to an end.
So reducing the global amount of energy we are now using is essential and it
should be the first step to build a sustainable world as far as energy is concerned.
Just have a look at the following numbers and think about them…
Energy BASQUE COUNTRY – 3280
consumption per
HUNGARY - 2542
year
PORTUGAL - 2210
(kg of oil per
capita) REUNION ISLAND - 1051
SWEDEN – 5414
However, when we think about saving energy we should have in mind that all the
objects and products we use every day are or were related to some kind of energy
consumption. Energy is always used when producing something, when carrying it to a
different place, when we are using it until it disappears. Using energy in a sustainable
way necessarily implies being aware of all that.
Our task: School environment
In terms of energy, schools represent around 25% of the global
amount of energy consumption. We usually spend a long time at school
but we rarely think about it as a place where we spend a lot of energy
and that it costs a lot of money.
So now our task is to do some research, to collect some
information, to identify some problems and to find some solutions in
order to improve the situation at our schools.
Let’s start working step by step!

2. General research
Let’s try to find out how we use the following goods and products.
Are we worried about saving them or are we wasting them?
Form small groups of work and write a short report about the situation of the indicated
products in your school by trying to get the answers to the questions below.
Food
Did you know  Does your school have a canteen and a cafeteria? Do most
that…
students have their meals there?
 Is there much food waste? What happens to it? Is there any kind of
food recycling or a composting system?
producing
 Is most food natural or industrial food? Is there any type of
meat
requires 14.7 concern related to food choices at your school?
more energy  Do people at your school try to choose environmentally friendly
than packages?
producing  Do you recycle those packages?
vegetables?
 Are the products you eat mostly from local places and markets or
do they come from distant places that require some kind of long
transportation?
Electricity
 What are the usual levels of electricity consumption at your
Did you know school?
that…  Does your school have a good natural lighting system or is
artificial illumination usually necessary? How long are light
the amount of
energy spent bulbs turned on during the day, do you have an idea?
by electrical  Do people usually leave the lights on when there is nobody
appliances in in the room?
standby mode  What kind of light bulbs are used at your school?
represents
 Are there automatic lighting systems that automatically
8% of the
global turn on or off when there are people coming?
amount of  Are there many electrical devices (computers, TV sets, video
electricity projectors, interactive boards, etc) at your school? Are they
consumption completely turned off when they are not being used or are
in a
they in standby mode?
household?

3.  Are the household gadgets used at school new or old? Are they energy efficient?
Paper
Did you know  How much paper is used by printers and photocopy machines
that… in your school?
 Are there specific places to recycle paper? Where? Do teachers
for each ton
of paper that and students regularly use them?
we recycle ,  Are photocopies made on both sides of a sheet of paper?
we avoid  Do you use recycled paper?
cutting down  Are people wasting paper in the toilets, in the canteen or in the
14 trees,
cafeteria? Can some of those products be replaced by reusable
wasting
50000 liters objects?
of water and  Can you exchange information and documents through the
two barrels of Internet (mail, Moodle, wiki) and this way reduce the amount
oil ? of paper you are using? Do you usually use it this way?
Heating /cooling systems
Did you know  Do you need any kind of heating or cooling system at your school?
that…
 What type of heating system is used? What source of energy does it
require? Are there any renewable energy systems at your school?
 How energy efficient are those systems?
about 60% of
 Is energy consumption related to those systems very high? What’s
the energy
coming from the average temperature in the classroom when the heating system
heating is being used?
systems is  Do people usually close the windows and the doors to avoid losing
wasted? energy?
 Does the school building have a good insulation system? Are there
double paned windows?
Containers – glass, plastic and metal
Did you know
that…
 Do you have much waste related to glass containers and other
the energy packages at school?
you can save  Are there specific places to recycle those packages? How many
by recycling a
are they? Are they enough and in the correct places?
juice can is
enough to  Do students usually separate that waste by recycling the
have a TV set containers or do they put them in the common bin?
on for three
hours?

4.  Do people at school try to reduce the number of containers they use by choosing
bigger containers or reusing them?
 Which products do you choose the most? Fresh products or packed products?
Share your research
Through the wiki share your results with the other countries participating
in the project. Discuss your points of view and present strategies and
practical suggestions to make your schools more environmentally friendly
and to save energy.
Investigate problems and find solutions
Now each school should concentrate on a specific product according to the
list below.
- Basque country – food;
- Hungary – electricity;
- Portugal – paper;
- Reunion Island –waste (bottles and cans);
- Sweden – heating.
At this level it is very important to do a deeper research about the real situation
in each school.
Go through the previous questions again, analyse your results, identify the
problems and get a real diagnostic of energy consumption at your school related to each
of the products above. Talk to the headmaster/mistress, teachers, helpers, other
students, etc and try to get as much information as possible about consumption levels,
systems and procedures.
After identifying the problems, plan some practical solutions to them. Organize
groups of work, plan your action and share activities. Don’t forget to get your school
involved into this plan. If you need, look for some help through local institutions.
Ready for action
Choose a week to carry out your plan. During that week pay attention to
people’s reactions, try to figure out if they agree with the plan and take
notes about any possible problems or difficulties.
You may take some photos of some of those activities.
Evaluation
A week later, it’s time to evaluate the results and to share your
conclusions. What results have you achieved? What was the most difficult?
How did the school community react? What have you learnt?

5. Create a document (powerpoint presentation, etc) to share all the results and
conclusions related to this energy adventure.
Let’s change the colours of our schools …
…Let’s build a green energy school!
January, 2012