Everyone in the school has a role to play in saving energy. Why not arrange a meeting with lunchtime staff to brainstorm ways that they could help to save energy. Possible actions you could suggest might include:
- Turning off lights in lunch halls when there is adequate daylight.
- Opening blinds and curtains in lunch halls to let in enough daylight, to avoid switching on lights.
- Closing doors and windows at lunchtime if the heating is on.
- Turning down thermostats in lunch halls if the room feels too hot, rather than opening a window.
- Encouraging children to close doors to toilets and corridors when they access these at lunch time.
Don't forget to include to hold a meeting with cleaning staff. Often they are the last to leave a school in the evening and could be the ones making sure all electrical items are off through the night. Possible actions you could suggest might include:
- Switching off the lights in each classroom as they finish cleaning. Not leaving lights on throughout the school building while cleaning.
- Checking windows are closed throughout the school as they clean.
- Empowering cleaners to turn off IT equipment marked with a switch-off sticker.
- Making sure radiators and vents are not obstructed by any equipment and that filters are kept clean and free of dust. This ensures better circulation of heat into the space and reduces the energy required to meet the heating demand.
- Cleaning windows, skylights and fittings to allow in maximum natural light.
- Providing cleaning staff with point-of-use water heaters for use during holidays, to avoid heating up a large tank of water unnecessarily.
- Turning off taps between use.
- Reporting dripping taps.
- Discussing recycling of more waste - aspire to be a zero waste school. Do cleaners notice that pupils and staff don't use recycling bins provided? Could recycling bins be positioned better to get more use? Are more recycling bins needed?
- Discussing switching from paper towels to energy efficient hand dryers.
- Reporting faulty lamps, which could be replaced by energy efficient alternatives such as LEDs.
After your meetings report back what you and the Lunchtime/cleaning staff have discussed to the School Business Manager and Head Teacher to create an overall picture of the school’s energy use, and any improvements that could be made.