First sixth-form college curve breaker

Students educate principal
The principal was informed that he should switch off the designer lamp when students were in his office. The same students are currently considering how they can save some of the EUR 134 worth of electricity used to run the discotheque at student parties.

‘The student representative council is responsible for suggesting savings tips and ideas at morning assembly every Wednesday. But the janitor and I naturally try to feed them with information,’ says Finn Rasmussen, principal of Bjerringbro Gymnasium, who has had to cut back on using his designer lamp.

‘It’s a Fata Morgana lamp, which produces a really attractive light by reflecting the light up. But it is fitted with two 500 watt bulbs, which cost 27 cents per hour to run, which is why the students have said that they don’t want it on when they come to my office. Now it’s switched off most of the time, and I only use it for special committee work,’ says Finn Rasmussen.

Competition and Curve Breaker Agreement
The background for the students’ savings enthusiasm is that the college has signed up for the Trust’s electricity savings competition in sixth-form colleges. The first prize is a special show featuring Danish stand-up comedian Geo, who fronts the campaign.

Apart from this, Bjerringbro is the first college to sign a Curve Breaker Agreement with the Trust. This commits the college to save 1% of the electricity used every year from 2008 to the end of 2010. This means that the college must save a total of 4,640 kWh over the three years.

Comedian plus DKK 5,000 as motivators
‘We’re using the competition to launch a whole way of thinking about saving electricity. That’s why we’re currently focussing on the competition and are using resources to save power in February, March and April. If we win the competition, our students will get nearly EUR 700 for their summer party – as well as the Geo show. If we don’t win, they’ll get the amount we have saved during the competition,’ adds Finn Rasmussen who explains that students can follow the power consumption trend on posters showing the week-by-week total compared with the months of October, November and December 2007.

Can easily save 1% per year
According to Bjerringbro’s principal the savings are really good. In the first week, consumption was higher than the reference period, but lower in the following three weeks. ‘This shows that if the trend continues we can easily save 1%. We can also confirm that the project is no longer about making savings over three months, but saving over the next 36,’ reports an optimistic principal.

Bjerringbro sets the pace
‘We’re extremely pleased that Bjerringbro is the first sixth-form college to sign a Curve Breaker Agreement. There’s been an extremely large uptake by the Danish municipalities of our offer of these agreements. Eleven of them have already signed an agreement. Now it seems that Bjerringbro set the pace for sixth-form colleges – with four more signing up later. It’s all very promising,’ says Christian Jarby, Manager for Public Sector Affairs at the Trust, who explains:

‘Bjerringbro has already done a lot to reverse the trend in electricity consumption, so the easy savings have already been made. However, students and teachers will need to go that extra mile to fulfil the agreement,’ says Christian Jarby referring to the fact that the college already has time-controlled ventilation, motion sensors for the lights in the sports hall, toilets and public areas. All the lamps in the public areas are fitted with A-rated energy saving bulbs, and computers automatically switch off when not in use.

The college’s electricity consumption is already sitting at 22 kWh per m2. This is a really good effort in relation to the national average for sixth-form colleges, which is 34 kWh per m2. Luckily there’s still room for improvement. The average for the top 10 colleges using the least power is actually 18 kWh per m2.

Changing our ways
‘Our security committee should research what we ought to do about savings options apart from changing our ways. For example, this could involve turning off the lights in our car park at night, as suggested by one student. These could be activated on the basis of demand, so perhaps we can make savings by correcting this sort of mistake, just as we should also have more power management and timer systems,’ says Finn Rasmussen.

Specifically, the college is considering the installation of timers on its coffee and soft drink vending machines. According to the Trust’s Customer Advice service, switching off vending machines at night can save 1,000 kWh per machine per year. In addition, lighting motion sensors in classrooms can make a difference, together with switching from fluorescent tubes to A-rated energy saving bulbs in classes.

Facts: Electricity consumption in sixth-form colleges

• Colleges collectively use 38 million kWh per year
• The average per m2 is 34 kWh
• Colleges can save around 25%, or 9.5 million kWh per year
  This equates to a carbon footprint of around 5,000 tons

View electricity consumption by sixth-form colleges at: www.savingtrust.dk/public-and-commerce/view-electricity-consumption

Facts: Bjerringbro led the way – there are now five curve breaker colleges
Bjerringbro led the way and became the first sixth-form college to sign a Curve Breaker Agreement with the Trust in February 2008. The following colleges have signed up since then: Høje Taastrup, Viby, Roskilde Katedralskole and Sønderborg Statsskole. There are now 36 curve breakers in total.

Geo goes to college
The Trust is currently running a competition to find out which sixth-form college can save the most power. The first prize is a special show at the winning college featuring stand-up comedian Geo.

Geo’s 10 electricity savings tips for sixth-form college students

1. Turn out the lights when French-kissing
2. Use candlelight – it’s cosier than electric lighting
3. Badger your parents to install dimmers on your lamps
4. Play acoustic guitar instead of electric
5. Turn off the lights, and play hide-and-seek in the dark again
6. Chill your beer outside when it’s cold
7. Let your boyfriend or girlfriend keep you warm, rather than your electric blanket
8. Sleep 14 hours a day  so you can avoid using power for more than 10 hours
9. Configure the computer to switch to standby when you fall asleep over the keyboard
10. Turn off the TV before you go to bed

The Trust’s 7 electricity savings tips for sixth-form colleges

1. Check energy saving settings on IT equipment. Computers, printers, monitors and similar equipment can be configured so they automatically revert to Standby or shut down
2. Check whether it would be advantageous to replace the lighting
3. Use AutoPowerOff plug banks, which automatically switch of several devices at the same time, e.g. monitor, printer and table lamp when a teacher or student switches off a computer
4. Follow the Trust’s Purchasing Guidelines
5. Use the Trust’s ventilation package, which consists of a ventilation check-up and a free electricity metering system
6. Get students and teachers to change their ways. Use the Trust’s campaign material and find more good savings tips at www.savingtrust.dk
7. Sign a Curve Breaker Agreement with the Trust. Set a savings target, and get help to save power