The Sustainable
School Project
Cork School Project Energy Audit
Report
Audit Date: 29 Feb 2000
Liam Mc Laughlin (‘Greening
the School’ Group)
An audit of energy use in the
school was carried out on the above date.
Gas (Heating)
At 0900hrs on the day of the
visit, it was very cold outside. This was an ideal situation to
examine the performance of the heating system.
There is good potential to reduce
gas bills in the school by some minor modifications to controls
and by minor changes to settings of existing controls.
Observations:
- The boiler temperature at 58
deg C had not yet reached its operating temperature (set
at 75 deg C). This indicates that the boiler heat output
is not enough to heat the school in the time available
from the start time of 0730hrs.
- The boilerhouse itself was
too warm due to loss of heat from uninsulated pipes.
- The classrooms on the ground
floor and 1st floor nearest the boilerhouse
appeared to be too hot. One classroom had its door to the
corridor and its windows open to try to keep cool.
Apparently this is not unusual. Rooms at the far end of
the school were felt to be a little too cool.
Recommendations:
- Set the boiler temperature to
cut out at 60 deg C and to start up half an hour earlier.
This may need further adjustment if these settings are a
little out. This will allow more time for the further
rooms to come up to temperature and minimise the cost of
doing so by operating at a lower temperature.
- All hot water pipes in the
boilerhouse should be insulated.
- Fit thermostatic radiator
valves to the radiators in the two classrooms nearest the
boilerhouse, i.e. one on each floor. These will minimise
the chance of these rooms overheating if used correctly
and will also significantly help in getting the other
areas of the school to heat up more quickly. It may be
necessary to fit thermostatic radiator valves to the next
classrooms also but it would be easiest and cheapest to
try them out on these two rooms first.
- On the day, the setting of
the thermostat in the Junior Infants room was reduced.
This would cause the heating pump for the ground floor to
stop more quickly. This was an interim solution. Ideally
this thermostat should be relocated to the coolest
classroom on the circuit.
- On the day, the setting of
the thermostat in the room above Junior Infants was
increased. This allowed the hot water pump to be operated
in automatic. Ideally this thermostat should also be
relocated to the coolest classroom on its circuit.
- Once the above improvements
have been implemented it would be worth looking at
fitting an outside air temperature switch near the
boilerhouse. This would prevent the boiler from starting
on warm days and would also stop the boiler automatically
earlier than the set time if the day warmed up earlier.
Based on general experience of
savings typically made it should be possible to reduce natural
gas consumption by at least 15% (> 1275 kWh @ 2.047p/kWh plus
VAT or £26 for period 18 Nov 99 to 22 Jan 2000) in the school.
If this bill were typical then annual savings would be in excess
of £90. In addition to the savings, comfort levels would also
increase both in the hot and cool areas of the school.
Detailed costs would need to be
obtained for each of the improvements to prioritise/eliminate
those that may be uneconomical.
Electricity
Uses for electricity in the
school:
- Lighting
- Office equipment
- Heating pumps
- Electric Heaters for outside
room
- PCs
- Miscellaneous
The ESB bill for Dec 99 / Jan 2000
was £311. The bill had an estimated reading on it but if it is
representative then annual electricity usage should be approx.
£1500.
There were a number of minor
savings to be made, e.g. removal of redundant high energy lights
outside principals office.
There is a large difference
between the calculated electricity usage and the billed usage
(7kW versus 15kW). This needs to be investigated to identify
where the bulk of the electricity is being used and thus identify
potential savings opportunities.
Electrical heating of the crèche
may account for a significant amount of the ‘missing’
electrical consumption. Economical solutions may not be practical
due to the condition of the building and the possibility that it
may be replaced.
Recommendations:
- Further checking of
electricity usage is required. This can be achieved by
taking frequent readings of the ESB meter and logging
them or by installing an electronic logger. The latter is
being investigated on a loan basis.
- The cost/savings of replacing
the current light fittings in the classrooms with more
modern high efficiency fittings or tubes will be
examined.
- Staff and students should be
encouraged to switch off unnecessary lights. It is
economical to switch off lights when leaving the room for
periods greater than 10 minutes such as breaks.
- Where current switching
set-up allows reduce corridor lighting to a level to
permit safe access and exit via the corridors.
- The cost/savings of fitting
automatic light switches to low occupancy areas such as
toilers will be examined.
Awareness
Very high levels of awareness of
the importance of minimising wastage of energy were apparent from
talking to John and Ger. This was reflected in the overall
approach being taken.
Recommendation:
There would be a benefit in
running an energy awareness campaign as part of the
‘Greening the School’ initiative. This would help the
children to become more aware of the environmental importance of
energy conservation as well as helping to reduce the running
costs of the school.
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