Tamworth West Public School Trials Grenner and Cooler

Wednesday, 21 September 2011 17:03

Media Releases - Kevin Anderson Media Release

21 September 2011

Tamworth West Public School Trials Grenner and Cooler

NSW Minister for Education, Adrian Piccoli and Member for Tamworth, Kevin Anderson, have announced a trial to find ways to cool classrooms and other learning areas in summer and heat them in winter to minimise the use of air-conditioning.

Mr Piccoli said some schools need air-conditioning, but there are others where the same temperature control could be achieved using better insulation, building repairs, sunscreens or landscaping.

“Trial schools will undergo an audit of their electricity and water consumption based on a concept developed by the Office of Environment & Heritage. Direct action measures to reduce energy use have obvious financial and environmental benefits.

“Instead of imposing an even greater burden on school finances in the form of a carbon tax, by encouraging energy efficiency schools may save money on their power bills,”

“We’ll be trialling the Thermal Comfort Framework, a variety of passive design solutions in the range of school building types for climate zones across NSW,” said Mr Piccoli.

“Tamworth West Public School will shortly be sitting down with the Department of Education and Communities to decide what works will be undertaken. The trial will begin in October 2011 and be completed at the end of 2012,” said Mr Anderson

“This is fantastic news for the students and teachers at Tamworth West Public School because it will make the school’s facilities more comfortable and provide a great example of smart energy use.”

All schools will have access to a real-time monitoring system that provides continuous feedback about electrical consumption and thermal comfort measures during the period of investigation and evaluation. The Climate Clever Energy Savers group will develop student-based learning activities, which will complement the use of passive solutions and their impact on thermal comfort and energy use.

The review of thermal comfort in schools will be undertaken in collaboration with the Architecture Faculty of Sydney University and with NSW Public Works arranging specialist consultancy support. This will ensure the new Thermal Comfort Framework has a rigorous academic and technical foundation.

Anticipated benefits from this new approach to thermal comfort include:

• increase in the number of learning spaces that provide comfortable learning environments
• reduction in electricity consumption
• lower levels of greenhouse gas production
• lower recurrent costs
• lower lifecycle/replacement costs
• lower impact on existing electrical infrastructure and a reduced need to upgrade existing substations and associated electrical infrastructure
• involvement of the school community in the decision making for a tailored solution for the school.

The Department is also looking to trial a range of cutting edge technologies to assist schools to achieve greater energy efficiencies. These include load shedding technology to manage peak electricity demand and reduce the need for power upgrades, installing energy efficient lighting technology, introducing power management software to reduce energy consumption by computers and other ICT devices, and expanding the use of appropriate renewable energy sources.

ENDS