Student Work from Sweden

Each school started their campaign with an”Energy day” where they made a concerted effort to save energy. In Stenbackaskolan, caps and scarves were allowed during the day with the thermostatic temperature lowered by 2 – 3 degrees. The school kitchen only served cool salad, and lights were off throughout almost the entire school. The headmaster only had a small lamp on her desk while it was dark outside and pupils attached post-it notes on all switches. For example the copy machine had a note   ”I’m asleep – don’t wake me up!”  They also had a ”Night walk” to see what was not switched off during the night (evening).  They discovered that   25 computers were not switched off, 16 outdoor lamps, and 6 toilet lights were left on.

Another school tried a 2-hour test. They switched off every light to examine the effect on electricity consumption and were surprised to discover that this did not have the noticeable effect on energy consumption they expected.  A simple analysis indicated that much of the electricity was consumed by ventilation with heat recycling and due to the fact that the pupils had a day off.  The school then had a complete clean-up day and much of the energy it was discovered was used by polishing machines and that probably the cleaners did not switch the lights off after doing their work…  Yeah, there is always something to learn...