Example of an energy audit

General objectives:

• Establish rules of general behaviour among pupils regarding energy saving, and using energy rationally. Identify local energy sources.
• To know the different types of renewable and non-renewable energy.
• Know some of the repercussions of conventional energy on the environment.
• Calculate energy consumption and expenditure through electricity bills.
• Switch off electrical appliances when not in use.
• Use automatic shut-off switches on photocopiers and other appliances.
• Adopt rules of behavior that favour the maintenance of the right temperature in classrooms.
• Analyse and propose new energy-saving rules.
• Install thermostats to regulate room temperature.
• Replace incandescent lamps with low-energy lamps.
• Adopt appropriate recycling measures when changing incandescent and fluorescent lamps.
• Measure and publicise the energy savings derived from better use.

Contents

• Concept of energy source.
• Types and classification of energy sources.
• Production and consumption.
• Portable energy: batteries and their ecological use.
• Differentiation between types of light bulbs, according to their consumption.
• Repercussions of excessive electricity consumption.
• Alternative energy sources.
• Counting and classifying everyday appliances according to the type of energy they use.
• Renewable and non-renewable energies.
• Electricity bills, their sections, consumption, and other variables.

Activities

To begin with, a survey, which should be adapted to the different levels by each tutor, on the subject of energy, intending to gather our students' previous knowledge.

The questions to be asked in the survey could be the following:

• Do you think about whether you need the light before you turn it on?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Sometimes
• When you enter a classroom and you see the light on unnecessarily, do you turn it off?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Sometimes
• When you leave the classroom, do you turn off the lights?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Sometimes
• When it is cold and you see an open door or window, do you close it?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Sometimes
• When you notice excessive heating, do you tell the teacher?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Sometimes
• Do you think that the number of days the heating is turned on during the school year is adequate?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Sometimes
• Which energy source do you consider the most polluting when used for heating?

            ______________________________________________

• Which energy sources do you think contribute the most to the greenhouse effect?

           __________________________________________________________

• Is there a radiator control valve?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Sometimes
• Is there isolation in the centre?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Sometimes
• Will the windows close tightly?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Sometimes
• Does the boiler in the centre give off smoke when lit?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Sometimes
• Do you think there is a need for an information campaign on energy issues in the school?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Sometimes
• Are you concerned about energy savings in the center?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Sometimes
• Is the orientation of blackboards in classrooms appropriate?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Sometimes
• Do you consider the color of the walls important for energy savings?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Sometimes
• Is maximum use made of solar radiation?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Sometimes
• Does the heating come on depending on the temperature?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Sometimes

The aim is to collect prior knowledge. The points covered in the survey are commented on and discussed in class, so that prior knowledge is collected on a mural so that, at the end of the study of the subject, the newly acquired knowledge can be taken up and analyzed.

Auditable energy aspects

• Counting lamps and fluorescent tubes.
• Know the total and partial consumptions, by dependencies, of the different lighting mechanisms.
• Analyze an electricity bill and distinguish between the different elements that make it up.
• Know the value of the energy consumed and the taxes applied.
• To learn about the consumption of the different electrical appliances that exist in every one of the school's rooms.
• To work on energy measurement units, carrying out activities to establish equivalences between them.
• Investigate all the aspects necessary for carrying out the audit at the electricity supply company.
• To make proposals for the improvement of the electrical part of the center. Propose initiatives and suggestions.
• Draw up an energy-saving decalogue.
• Establish the energy standards that we must all comply with in order to save energy at the school.
• Use of energy-saving mechanisms.
• Count the amount of used batteries collected.

Younger children can:

• Count the fluorescent tubes in each of the school's rooms.
• Install collection containers for used batteries where agreed. Carry out different experiments with energy:
  • Make a spiral out of cardboard, which they will decorate and cut out and which will rotate when a heat source is applied underneath it.
  • With cardboard and a toothpick, make a pinwheel that moves propelled by steam produced by boiling water.

The older ones will look at more complicated aspects such as:

• Consumption of electrical appliances:
  • Lighting
  • Heating
  • Hot water
  • Electrical appliances or computers
  • Other appliances
• Study the boiler: operation, type of fuel…
• Making a wall of solar panels of 0.5 V. each, to operate various electrical mechanisms.
• Control the timetable for switching on the centre's lighting.
• Types of lamps: incandescent, fluorescent…
• Contact the energy supply company to find out about: bills, prices, consumption…
• Consumption and value in euros of energy consumed and taxes applied.
• Quantifiable aspects of the electricity bill.
• Analysis of the different variables in an electricity bill.
• Differentiation between renewable and non-renewable energies.
• Analysis of the insulation used in the construction of the building. Analysing areas of the school where the greatest energy consumption is made in lighting.
• Analyse the possibility of placing timers in different rooms and the economic cost that such a change would produce.
• Analyse the possibility of installing light sensors in different rooms and the cost of installing them.
• Prepare murals on:
  • Renewable and non-renewable energies.
  • Alternative energies.
  • Pollution is caused by the use of different types of energy.
  • Energy saving decalogue.
  • Detailed analysis of an electricity bill.
• Internet research activities on recent discoveries and research into new types of energy and their applications.