St Chad's Cuts Carbon
As part of Explore Renewables, a unique new region-wide initiative which will bring renewable energy to life across North East schools, St Chad’s school in County Durham has been given a ‘renewable energy make-over,’ saving almost a tonne of carbon each year.
St Chad’s school in Bishop Auckland was selected by eaga Renewables to become a flagship school for the Explore Renewables project, demonstrating to other schools in the North East how easy and beneficial renewable energy solutions can be.
Explore Renewables is a free initiative now open to all publicly funded middle and secondary schools in the North East. The project is designed to provide schools with a hands-on way of understanding renewable energy, as well as aiding practical learning in sciences, maths, design and geography. Participating schools will each be given their own specially designed ‘Solar Thermal Trolley’, key stage three curriculum support materials, and access to a unique interactive website.
The new system at St Chad’s will show other schools in the Explore Renewables scheme how a full scale version of their solar thermal trolley works in a real life situation. Solar Thermal works by collecting heat from the sun, which warms water circulating in the system. It is a clean and efficient way of meeting the hot water requirements of a building, requiring little maintenance.
Experts from the eaga Renewables team assessed the energy usage of St Chad’s school and identified that significant carbon savings could be made through the installation of a solar thermal water heating system. The system now means the school will save one tonne of carbon each year.
Mrs. Jill Hodgson, Teacher for years five and six said, “St Chad’s is a small school which would not normally be in a position to replace its water heater. The building is also quite old, and so I wouldn’t have considered renewable energy as an option for us. The new system provides hot water for our canteen, which has used an immersion heater to heat the water for many years. Now we use sunshine!”
Stephen Caseley, Managing Director at eaga Renewables said, “We chose St Chad’s because it is very much representative of the average school in the North East, and given that they use an immersion system, we saw an immediate opportunity to make significant cost savings and carbon reductions, with minimum inconvenience to the school. Solar Thermal Heating is a very viable option not only for new buildings but for any building where traditional, expensive water heating systems are currently used.”
Mark Taylor Project Manager for Explore Renewables said, “Explore Renewables will help schools, staff, parents and pupils to think again about the variety of different options that are out there for sustainable heating and power. Giving schools the chance to try out solar thermal technology in the classroom will help take the mystery out of renewable energy, and the activities designed for Explore Renewables will encourage practical application of maths, science, design and geography.”
The scheme is open to all publicly funded middle and secondary schools in the North East and teachers are encouraged to sign up to the project via the website at www.explorerenewables.co.uk. Explore Renewables will be officially launched at the Centre for Life on 29th April, at an informative event focusing on the challenges of hands-on science and sustainability in schools.
Explore Renewables is being delivered through the North East’s Centre for Excellence for New and Renewable Energy, NaREC, in partnership with eaga Renewables and the Centre for Design Research at Northumbria University.
By summer 2008 all middle and secondary schools participating in the scheme will have their own specially designed mobile renewable energy unit which they will be able to use together with an interactive website and specifically written key stage three curriculum support materials. Together these tools will encourage practical measurement and data-recording activities and help children to understand the impact and relevance of sustainability in everyday life.
The project will allow children to witness first hand how renewable technology can be applied in their schools – and by inference in their own homes.
The three-year project will build up a unique network of children and teachers in schools across the North East who will be able to interact through www.explorerenewables.co.uk. Schools will be able to share data and information with other classes using the same technology elsewhere in the region, and arrange collaborative class projects.
Schools involved in Explore Renewables will also be able to access live data feeds from the flagship schools and a permanent renewable energy unit at the New and Renewable Energy Centre in Blyth. Other interactive science learning centres in the region will be offered their own version of the mobile unit for use in exhibits and learning activities.
All publicly-funded middle and secondary schools in the North East are eligible to participate in the scheme. Schools wishing to sign up to Explore Renewables must register their interest as places will be issued on a first come first served basis and all schools must be registered before the launch event on 29th April. School representatives can find out more information and secure their school’s involvement now by registering on the website at www.explorerenewables.co.uk
Explore Renewables is being implemented by Blyth-based NaREC, the North East’s Centre of Excellence for New and Renewable Energy, in partnership with eaga plc, and The Centre for Design Research at Northumbria University, with funding from One Northeast.
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Pictured (L-R) “Stephen Caseley, from Eaga, Mrs Hodgson from St. Chad’s, Matthew Lievesley from the Centre for Design Research and Mark Taylor, from NaREC, with children from St. Chad’s School, in front of the Rooftop Solar Thermal System.”
Editors Notes
Explore Renewables is designed to help with specific areas of the Key Stage Three curriculum where interaction can specifically enhance understanding of the Impact of renewable energies, economic factors in energy decision-making, balanced decision-making on energy sources, sustainability and reliability in energy supply.
Participating schools will be able to sign up to the scheme between now and the official launch of the scheme on 29th April. School representatives will then be required to attend a short half day training session in June ahead of receiving the materials and renewable energy unit from Explore Renewables. More details on these training sessions and the launch event will follow
The specially designed renewable energy unit works using solar thermal technology which uses the sun to heat water.
For further information please contact:
Louise Harrison
Marketing Manager
Direct Dial: 01670 357 621
Email: louise.harrison@narec.co.uk
