GO4SET 2010/2011 Hazlehead Academy H.A.G.4.S.6

Ross Nicole Stuart Raegan Hannah Thomas

Our school has an existing recycling programme. Each classroom has a paper recycling box which is to be emptied once a week for collection by the council.

The school also received £40,000 worth of solar panels which will be installed in the near future.

AMEC To compliment our team we were supported by our AMEC mentor Edmund Rodgers. His role at AMEC is a structural engineer. AMEC is an international company which specialises in consultancy, engineering and project management for the world’s energy, water and natural resources.

With an annual turnover of £2.5billion AMEC has branches in over 40 countries and employs over 23,000 people worldwide.

Our visit to AMEC Our visit to AMEC was an important and relevant part of the project as it let us see how a worldwide company strives to operate in an ECO friendly way.

AMEC seeks to achieve sustainable development by balancing the social rights of people, environmental protection and sensible economics.

Recommendations We created a list of recommendations which we thought would be achievable and effective in an ECO classroom.

Motion Sensor lights. A light that automatically turns on and off and therefore saves energy.

Recycling Collection points for paper, aluminium, glass and plastic in every room would encourage pupils to regularly recycle and reduce waste.

Sedum Plants Sedum plants increase thermal insulation which in turn reduces energy costs. They also encourage biodiversity.

Yoghurt pots as splash backs By producing splash backs using yoghurt pots the school would be recycling and giving it another use.

Solar Panels Solar panels work by absorbing sunlight and turning it into electricity, capable of raising energy efficiency by 50%.

Low energy light bulbs Low energy light bulbs use less electricity and last longer than traditional light bulbs. This reduces the energy used, saving on cost and helps reduce the schools carbon footprint.

Sustainable materials Sustainable materials are materials that can be reused and recycled. At Hazlehead Academy we need to investigate how these materials can help us to become more ECO friendly.

Flushing toilets with filtered rain water. By supporting the existing plumbing system with rain water the amount of water wasted in the flushing process can be reduced.

Large windows or skylights. Large windows use the natural light and therefore reduce the amount of electricity used. Natural light is also thought to help improve people’s health and increase productivity.

Conclusion As part of Hazlehead Academy’s GO4SET team we have examined existing ECO practises at our own school and investigated a variety of ways that an ECO classroom can be developed. Currently our school has a very good record of recycling paper and plastic. However we believe that there are further improvements that can be made.

These improvements range from quite small changes such as a whole school policy on recycling to larger changes, such as the installation of solar panels. We feel that if schools acted upon the recommendations outlined in this report then a move towards a more ECO friendly classroom would be more achievable.

Taking part in GO4SET has faced us with many exciting challenges. We have built our self confidence throughout the project and enjoyed working hard to finish with a successful report and ECO classroom.