Energy conservation: schools have been doing their homework!

By signing up to the National Energy Transition Pact last September (see  Newsletter 11 ), the Principality’s schools committed to playing their part in the Government’s collective energy conservation plan. 

In March, building on that commitment, the Mission for Energy Transition (MTE) launched a call for initiatives to reduce energy spending, through a schools energy conservation challenge. (The MTE and the Public Buildings Maintenance Office provided support to each institution that requested it).

The stated aim was to encourage schools to come up with bright ideas and invite them to use all their creative energy to go even further...

Three schools made remarkable contributions in the areas of energy savings and innovation, and were awarded a certificate at the MTE on Thursday 15 June: the Ecole de la Condamine, the Ecole de Fontvieille, and the International University of Monaco (IUM).

Their best practices will be passed on to all schools and shared on our social media accounts!

A selection of the best ideas…

Ecole de la Condamine: 

• Elect an environmentally aware pupil to be in charge of using lights responsibly in each class.
• Teach classes about environmentally friendly everyday actions.
• Install solar panels.
• Programme heating and air-conditioning systems.
• Switch off computers and printers.
• Use motion sensors for lighting in communal areas. 
• Set the temperature to 19°C in classrooms and manage lights.

Ecole de Fontvieille: 

• Restrict times during which buildings are heated.
• Turn off lighting at certain times in corridors, entrances, playgrounds.
• Adapt heating/air-conditioning in buildings based on the number of people using them.
• The school achieved a 34.1% reduction in energy used for hot water and heating between April 2022 and 2023, cutting its consumption from 6,470 kWh to 4,360 kWh! 

Finally, the IUM: 

• The IUM created the group “IUM Engage Project – Mission for Energy Transition – Energy Category”, made up of 11 students split into three groups for each of the key National Pact themes (mobility, waste, energy).
• In the “energy” category: make and display posters in classrooms and offices, and raise awareness about the important of this initiative.
• Reduce temperature to 19°C in classrooms and offices during the winter, with the system controlled by the central regulator (the same system as for air-conditioning).
• Switch off lights, projectors, and screens inside classrooms and offices.
• In the space of just one month, the university made a 5% energy saving.

Well done to all three institutions for their commitment, initiatives, and imagination!

---

And because it always bears repeating: greenhouse gas emissions from energy used in buildings account for 33% of the Principality’s total emissions!