Teachers Guidebook

Teachers guidebook
Edition
EN 1.2 - November 2010
Check IUSES project web site www.iuses.eu for updated versions.

Disclaimer
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects the views only of the author and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use
which may be made of the information contained therein.

Authors:
Maja Blejec (Slovenski E-Forum), Jos Houben (University of Leoben), Hannes Kern
(University of Leoben), Mihai Iancu (S.C. IPA S.A), Giuseppe Pugliese (CIRCE), Harald Rau-
penstrauch (University of Leoben), Fatma Zehra Skr (University of Leoben)

Layout
Fabio Tomasi (AREA Science Park)

About this handbook and IUSES
This handbook has been developed in the frame of the IUSES Intelligent Use of Energy at
School Project funded by the European Commission - Intelligent Energy Europe Programme.
The partners of the project are : AREA Science Park (Italy) CERTH (Greece), CIRCE (Spain),
Clean Technology Centre - Cork Institute of Technology (Ireland), Enviros s.r.o. (Czech Re-
public), IVAM UvA (Netherlands), Jelgava Adult Education Centre (Latvia), Prioriterre
(France), Science Centre Immaginario Scientifico (Italy), S.C. IPA S.A. (Rumania), Slovenski
E-forum (Slovenia), Stenum GmbH(Austria), University Politehnica of Bucharest
(Rumania), University of Leoben (Austria), University of Ruse (Bulgaria)

Copyright notes
This book can be freely copied and distributed, under the condition to always include the pre-
sent copyright notes also in case of partial use. Teachers, trainers and any other user or dis-
tributor should always quote the authors, the IUSES project and the Intelligent Energy Europe
Programme.
The book can be also freely translated into other languages. Translators should include the pre-
sent copyright notes and send the translated text to the project coordinator
(iuses@area.trieste.it) that will publish it on the IUSES project web site to be freely distributed

I

Key to symbols

Definition: this is to indicate a definition of a
term, explaining what it means.
Notes: this shows that something is important, a
tip or a vital piece of information. Watch out for
these!

Learning Objective: these are at the beginning of
each chapter and they explain what you will learn
in that chapter.
Experiment, Exercise or Activity: this indicates
something for you to do, based upon what you
have learned.
Weblink: this shows an internet address where
you can get more information
Reference: this indicates where some information
came from.

Case Study: when we give an actual example or a
real situation.

Key Points: this is a summary (usually in bullet
points) of what you have covered, usually at the
end of a chapter
Question: this indicates when we are asking you
to think about a question, especially at the end of
chapters
Level 2: this marks an in-depth section

IUSES Teachers guidebook
Index

Chapter 0: Introduction to the Teachers Guidebook 2
Chapter 1: Introduction to energy 3
1.1 Sustainable development 3
1.2 Global warming 3
1.3 Energy key concepts 5
1.4 What is electricity? 13
1.5 Renewable energy sources 16
Chapter 2: Guidelines for using the IUSES educational toolkit 23
2.1. Integration of the different tools 23
2.2 Student handbooks 23
2.1 Introduction to the Transport Handbook 24
2.2 Introduction to the Buildings Handbook 25
2.3 Introduction to the Industry Handbook 28
2.3 Experimental toolkit 29
2.4 Multimedia CD 33
2.5 Power point slides 33
2.6 Educational pathways 34
2.6.1 Humanistic 34
2.62 Technical 36
2.6.3 Business 39
Chapter 3: Energy Saving Plan 41
Chapter 4: Communication Plan 52
4.1 How to organise a successful event 52
4.2 Presenting the work done 57
4.3 Media treatment 57
4.4 Final preparation of the event 61

2
0 Introduction to the Teachers Guidebook

This Guidebook is designed to support teachers using IUSES materials in the teaching of good
energy management practices and to help them to get the best from the many materials available.
It will aid the teacher in fully understanding the materials provided and show how best to use
them. It will also provide extra materials (not available to the students) but which can be used by
the teachers, if they so wish, explaining how to integrate the different material together for maxi-
mum results.
Several tools were provided as part the IUSES project. These include:
- 3 Student Handbooks on Transport, Buildings and Industry
- An Experimental Tooklit
- Multimedia supports on the three main topics
- Power point slides
The handbooks and other materials can be downloaded from the project website: www.iuses.eu.
The first thing to note in this Guidebook is the Key to Symbols previously shown. This explains
the different types of notation and highlighting in the student handbooks and also in this guide-
book. These highlights include: definitions, notes, learning objectives to chapters, experiments/
activities, weblinks, references, case studies, key points, questions and when material is of a high
level suitable for more advanced students. Watch out for these in the text.
The Guidebook begins with an Introduction to Energy in Chapter 1. This explains some of the
main issues relating to energy such as Sustainable Development, Global Warming, some Key
Concepts of Energy, Electricity and Renewable Energy Sources. These are all outlined for the
teacher to quickly familiarise him/herself with the main topics in a manner suitable to their level
however most of these are given in more detail in the handbooks themselves for the students.
Chapter 2 provides guidelines for the teacher on the usage and integration of the different IUSES
tools. It explains firstly how best the teacher can utilise the different resources and how they can
be combined for greatest results. Then each of the student handbooks (Transport, Buildings and
Industry) is introduced in more detail, showing the key points of each section, their learning ob-
jectives, and where the text is best linked to the multimedia provided. This will also help teach-
ers to focus on the main topics most suitable for their students, should they decide not to teach
the full content of all three of the handbooks. Chapter 2 also explains the experimental toolkit
hot to build it up and how to use it. The multimedia tools are also explained and how they can be
linked to the handbooks, where they fit in and what they are intended to teach with regard to
transport, buildings and industry.
Chapter 2 also gives the teacher guidance on how to best use all the materials depending on the
type of school they are in or the students they are teaching, whether humanities, technology or
business.
Chapter 3 explains and guides the teacher through the implementation of an Energy Saving Plan
for their school. It outlines the six main steps in such a plan and gives tips on how best to carry
them out in simple yet effective ways. These are the appointment of the energy board (energy
management team), how to conduct an energy audit, the setting of goals/objectives for the pro-
gramme, how to draw up a set of measures to enable the goals to be achieved (action plan), how
to implement the action plan, and ways of monitoring and evaluating progress.
Finally Chapter 4 covers the issue of communication a key element of improved energy man-
agement. It guides the teacher through the organising of events, developing checklists, the pres-
entation of information to different stakeholders using different methods, and how to work with
the media to maximum effect for the school.
3
1 Introduction to Energy

1.1 Sustainable Development
In connection with the discussion about alternative energy sources, environmental protection and
security of supply one expression in particular became popular; sustainability. Sustainability
nowadays is often used for different aspects of human life.
1987 the UN World Commission on Environment and Development, also called the Brundtland
Comission after its Chairman Gro Harlem Brundtland, issued a report, referred to as the
Brundtland Report, where the term Sustainable Development was recognised on a global
level
Definition: The Brundtland Report defined Sustainable Development as:
meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future gen-
erations to meet their own needs

In 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit)
in Rio de Janeiro the UN agreed that Sustainable Development should be one of the main goals
in every area where mankind influences environment. The agreements of the Rio Conference
were published as the so called Agenda 21. Agenda 21 is structured in four main sections and
includes goals like combating poverty, changing consumption patterns, atmospheric protection,
strengthening the roles of children, women or NGOs that should be achieved by science and
educational efforts as well as through international institutions and mechanisms including finan-
cial mechanisms.

Figure 1: Key Elements of Sustainable Development

1.2 Global warming
Maybe one of the best known global problems with economic, social and environmental conse-
quences global warming is discussed on a broad international basis. Global warming is the tem-
perature increase of the Earths surface and atmosphere resulting from human activities such as
extreme reliance on fossil fuels like coal and oil. According to IPCC (The Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change), the main cause of global warming is the increasing of greenhouse gas
concentrations (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide). Increasing greenhouse gas emis-
Sustainable
Viable
Bearable
Equitable
Social
Environment Economic
4
sions arises from human activities, mainly:

- burning of fossil fuels for electricity generation, transport, industry and households
- agriculture and land use changes like deforestation
- landfilling of waste
use of industrial fluorinated gases

The amount of greenhouse gases and aerosols influence retained and reflected solar energy
which comes to the Earths surface from the sun. As a consequence of differences between in-
coming solar energy and reflected energy amount, the global mean temperature changes increas-
ingly. The warming of global climate is unequivocal. Figure 2 shows a comparison of observed
temperature changes in the planets surface for the period 1906-2005.

Figure 2: Comparison of observed continental- and global-scale changes in surface temperature with results simu-
lated by climate models using natural and anthropogenic forcing.

Global average temperature has increased by almost 0.8 C and by about 1C in Europe. From
1995-2006 the warmest temperatures since 1850, when instrumental record of global surface
temperature started, were observed. Global temperatures may increase further by 1.8 to 4 C by
2100 (IPCC) if the emission of greenhouse gases keeps increasing. There are a lot of impacts of
Global warming that could already be observed as:

- widespread melting snow and ice
- thawing frozen ground
- changes in hydrological and biological systems
increasing damage associated with coastal flooding and rising sea levels

Figure 3 demonstrates the development of some of these impacts throughout the past century:

5

Figure 3: Observed changes in (a) global average surface temperature, (b) global average sea level from tide gauge
(blue) and satellite (red) data and (c) Northern Hemisphere snow cover for March-April.

The development of these effects related to the change in climate are induced or at least acceler-
ated through human activities. Changes are an elementary factor of our environment but its the
enormous speed that makes global warming especially dangerous. For flora and fauna it is often
not possible to adapt to the changing climate, which leads to the extinction of different species.
The question is how to stop global warming? The IUSES Project at least tries to give information
about how to reduce these effects.

1.3 Energy Key concepts
Etymologically the word energy comes from the Greek energia meaning activity or operation
and energos meaning active, working. As a physical term it means the ability to work (of an
object or of a system).
The first law of thermodynamics simply declares that energy is conserved. This means, the total
amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant. It cannot be destroyed or created but it
can change form. We take a close look now at the key concepts referring to energy and some of
the most important energy forms.

6
Units of Energy
Units of energy are discussed according to different uses of energy. Some units are as listed be-
low:

Joule (J) SI-Unit N.m
Newton meter (Nm) kg.m
2
/s
2

Calorie (cal) 1 cal = 4,184 J
Kilo Calorie (kcal) 1 kcal = 10
3
cal = 4184 J
Electronvolt (eV) 1,602.10
-19
J
Erg (erg) gcm/s 1 erg = 10
-7
J
British thermal unit (BTU) 1BTU = 1,055 J
Foot-pound (ft lb) 1 ft lb = 1,356 J
Watt hour (W h) 1 Wh = 3600 J
Kilowatt hour (kW h) 1 kWh = 3,6.10
6
J
Horsepower hour (hp h) 1 hp h = 2,7.10
6
J

Thermal Energy
The sum of all microscopic forms of energy in a system is defined as internal energy. It is re-
lated to the molecular structure and the degree of molecular activity.
Thermal energy is the sum of latent internal energy and sensible internal energy. Sensible energy
is a part of internal energy, which means kinetic energies of the molecules such as molecular
translation, rotation, and vibration; electron translation and spin; and nuclear spin. Latent energy
is also a part of internal energy, which arises during the change of a systems phase.

Definition: Thermal energy is the total internal kinetic energy of an object due to the
random motion of its atoms and molecules.

In relation with thermal energy, heat is due to temperature difference, transfer of energy from
one system to another.

Heat flows between systems from the areas of high temperature to areas
of low temperature. The transfer of thermal energy between two objects, which have a tempera-
ture difference, happens by conduction, convection and radiation
Definition: Heat is the sum of the thermal energy in transit!

To calculate this flow of energy, the following equation can be used:

Here c
v
is heat capacity, which is the amount of heat required to increase the temperature of an
object one degree (SI Unit: [J/K]).
As a form of energy, the unit of heat is calorie or joule. A Calorie is the amount of energy neces-
sary to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius.
Temperature unlike from heat is related to the average kinetic energy of particles in a substance.
The SI-Unit for temperature is the Kelvin (K). It can be also expressed as degree Celsius (C)
[K] = [C] + 273
[K] = [C] + 273

}
= A dT c q
V
7
Definition: Temperature is the average kinetic energy of particles!

Thermal Energy change in a system can be calculated as:

Q: Change of thermal energy
m: Mass of substance
T: Change of temperature (T
End
-T
First
)
c: Specific heat capacity of substance ([J/kg.K])

If the temperature of a system increases, thermal energy increases too, because the kinetic energy
of particles is increased. But even if the temperature doesnt change, the thermal energy can be
higher, for example with a more massive substance.

Key points
Thermal energy consists of the total internal kinetic energy of an object because of
the random motion of its atoms and molecules. Thermal energy can internal with
chemical, nuclear and electrical reactions. It can also be increased from external ef-
fects, such as mechanical, radiation and conduction effects. It is linked to heat and
temperature. Heat and temperature are different. Heat is the flow of energy from high
temperature to low and its unit is the calorie or joule. Temperature is the measure of
the average translational kinetic energy of molecules and its units are Celsius, Kelvin
and Fahrenheit.

T c m Q A =
Note: Heat and temperature are different from each other!

Heat Temperature
Total thermal energy Average of the kinetic en-
ergy
SI-Unit Joule SI-Unit Kelvin
Measuring with Calorime-
ter
Measuring with Thermome-
ter
8
Magnetic Energy
A magnetic field is a vector field which is produced by magnets and electric currents. In SI-Units
it is measured in tesla [T]. The magnetic field lines run from North to South:

Figure 4: Magnetic field lines

Definition: Magnetic field is a vector field which surrounds magnets and electric cur-
rents.

For instance, a particle having an electric charge, q, and moving in a magnetic field, B, with a
velocity, v, experiences a magnetic force, F:

The work of this magnetic force is defined as the potential energy of a magnet and is:

Here m is the magnetic moment and B is the magnetic field. Minus indicates the field direction,
opposite to the axial case.

Definition: Magnetic energy is the work which is done by magnetic force.

Magnetic field also has its own energy with an energy density proportional to the square of the
field intensity:

0
is the magnetic constant.

If the energy is stored in an inductor (inductance L) when current I is passing it is:

) ( B v q F =
B m E
m P
=
,
2
0
2
1
B u
M
=
2
,
2
1
I L E
m P
=
9

Chemical Energy
Chemical energy is the energy which is stored in the bonds of chemical compounds. It may be
released during a chemical reaction, often in the form of heat; such as exothermic reactions. Dur-
ing endothermic reactions, which require an input of heat to proceed, some of energy may store
as chemical energy in newly formed bonds.

Example:
- The chemical energy in food is converted by the body into mechanical energy and heat.
When food is digested and metabolized with oxygen, chemical energy is released, which can in
turn be transformed into heat, or by muscles into kinetic energy.
- The chemical energy in coal is converted into electrical energy at a power plant. The energy
is released due to a combustion reaction
The chemical energy in a battery can also supply electrical power by means of electrolysis.

The energy exchanges occur in the following processes:
1. Chemical reactions
2. Phase changes
The formation of solutions
The following state functions are also referred to the chemical energy:
- Internal energy (U)
- Enthalpy (H).
- Entropy (S)
Gibbs free energy (G)

Definitions:
Internal energy: The sum of all microscopic forms of energy of a system. (U)
Enthalpy: The amount of energy or work required to create a system (H)
Entropy: A measure of the amount of energy which is unavailable to do work. (The
disorder of a system) (S).
Gibbs free energy: The maximum amount of work obtainable from a reaction (G)

The internal energy of a system or a body is the total of the kinetic energy which is a result of
translational, rotational, and vibrational motion of molecules and the potential energy related
with the vibrational and electric energy of atoms within molecules.

Note: Nota: Non c alcuna differenza fondamentale tra energia magnetica ed energia
elettrica. In un capacitatore, lenergia elettrica immagazzinata e in un
induttore lenergia magnetica immagazzinata .
C
Q
E
e P
2
2
,
=
2
,
2
1
I L E
m P
=
10
The internal energy is defined by:

Where, U is the change in internal energy of a system during a process.
Q is heat added to a system
W is the mechanical work done on a system
W' is energy added by all other processes

The Enthalpy describes thermodynamic potential of a system. The enthalpy change is used for
the change in the internal energy of the system and work which the system does to its surround-
ings. It can be calculated at constant pressure with volume changes:

It is common to assume the changes in chemical energy for one mole of the substance. This
means, that at constant pressure, the change in enthalpy is the heat change which occurs when 1
mol of a substance reacts completely with oxygen to form products at 273.15 K and 1 atmos-
phere of pressure. The total enthalpy of a system cannot be measured directly; the enthalpy
change of a system is measured instead. Enthalpy change is defined:

Entropy; it is central to the second law of thermodynamics, which deals with physical processes
and whether they proceed spontaneously. Spontaneous changes in isolated systems occur with an
increase in entropy.
In a common sense the second law says that temperature differences between systems in contact
with each other tend to even out and that work can be obtained from these non-equilibrium dif-
ferences, but that loss of heat occurs, in the form of entropy, when work is done.
Entropy is defined as:

P
i
is the probability of the sum over all microstates, i, consistent with the given macro state.
k is t he constant of proportionality and in SI units is known as Boltzmann's constant =
1.38066 10
23
J/K
1
.
In a system, a "universe" consisting of "surroundings" and "systems" and made up of quantities
of matter, its pressure differences, density differences, and temperature differences all tend to
equalize over time because the equilibrium state has higher probability than any other.

Example:
- In the ice melting, the difference in temperature between a warm room (the surroundings)
and cold glass of ice and water (the system and not part of the room), begins to be equal-
ized as portions of the heat energy from the warm surroundings spread out to the cooler
system of ice and water. Over time the temperature of the glass and its contents and the
temperature of the room become equal. The entropy of the room has decreased as some of
its energy has been dispersed to the ice and water.
W W Q U ' + + = A
V p U H A + A = A
initial final
H H H = A
=
i
i i
P P k S ln
11
- A special case of entropy increase, the entropy of mixing, occurs when two or more differ-
ent substances are mixed. If the substances are at the same temperature and pressure, there
will be no net exchange of heat or work - the entropy increase will be entirely due to the
mixing of the different substances.

A second correction should be done with the change in entropy, S and it must also be performed
to determine whether a chemical reaction will take place or not, giving the Gibbs free energy, G.
The Gibbs free energy is a thermodynamic potential that measures the "useful" or process-
initiating work obtainable from an isothermal, isobaric thermodynamic system.
The Gibbs free energy is the maximum amount of non-expansion work that can be extracted
from a closed system; this maximum can be attained only in a completely reversible process.
When a system changes from a well-defined initial state to a well-defined final state, the Gibbs
free energy G equals the work exchanged by the system with its surroundings, less the work of
the pressure forces, during a reversible transformation of the system from the same initial state to
the same final state:

Example: In the oxidation of glucose, the main energy reaction in living cells, the change in
Gibbs free energy is 2870 kJ.

Nuclear Energy
A nuclear reaction is the process in which two nuclei (consisting of protons and neutrons) or nu-
clear particles bump into each other to produce products different from the initial particles. A
reaction can involve more than three particles colliding, but the probability of three or more nu-
clei colliding at the same time at the same place is much less than for two nuclei. While the
transformation is spontaneous in the case of radioactive decay, it is initiated by a particle in the
case of a nuclear reaction. If the particles collide and separate without changing, the process is
called an elastic collision rather than a reaction.
Example:

Definition:
Nuclear fission: To break apart a nucleus into light fragments. Then a yield of en-
ergy will release because the sum of the masses of the fragments will be less than the
mass of the original nucleus.

Nuclear fusion: To force light nuclei together. It will be combined with a yield of en-
ergy because the mass of the combination will be less than the sum of the masses of
the individual nuclei.
.

S T H G A A = A
He He H Li
4
2
4
2
2
1
6
3
+ +
12
Nuclear fission is a sort of nuclear reaction. The nucleus of an atom
splits into smaller parts and produces free neutrons and lighter nuclei,
which may eventually produce photons (in the form of gamma rays).
Fission of heavy elements is an exothermic reaction which can re-
lease large amounts of energy
both as electromagnetic radia-
tion and as kinetic energy of
the fragments. The resulting
fragments are not the same
element as the original atom.

Nuclear fusion is the process
by which multiple, like-
charged, atomic nuclei join
together to form a heavier nu-
cleus. It releases or absorbs
energy.
Fusion reactions power the stars and produces the lightest
elements in a process. Although the fusion of lighter ele-
ments in stars releases energy, production of the heavier
elements absorbs energy.

When the fusion reaction is a sustained uncontrolled chain, it can result in a thermonuclear ex-
plosion, such as a hydrogen bomb.
Nuclear potential energy, along with electric potential energy, presents the energy released from
nuclear fission and nuclear fusion processes. The result of both these processes is nuclei in which
the more-optimal size of the nucleus allows the nuclear force to bind nuclear particles more
tightly together than before the reaction.
The energy released in nuclear processes is so large that the relativistic change in mass (after the
energy has been removed) can be as much as several parts per thousand.
Nuclear particles (nucleons) like protons and neutrons are not destroyed in fission and fusion
processes. Rather, fission and fusion release energy when collections of baryons become more
tightly bound, and it is the energy associated with a fraction of the mass of the nucleons (but not
the whole particles) which appears as the heat and electromagnetic radiation generated by nu-
clear reactions. This heat and radiation retains the "missing" mass, but the mass is missing only
because it escapes in the form of heat and light, which retain the mass and conduct it out of the
system where it is not measured.

Example: The energy from the Sun, also called solar energy, is this form of energy conversion.
In the Sun, the process of hydrogen fusion converts about 4 million metric tons of solar matter
per second into light. This light is radiated into space, but during this process, the number of total
protons and neutrons in the sun does not change.

Electric Energy
Electric energy is one of the key components of our energy supply and an important energy car-
rier. For a better Understanding what electricity is and how it works we take a closer look on it in
the following subchapter.
Figure 5: Fission of U-Atom
by bombarding with a neutro
Figure 6: Fusion of Li-Atom with Deute-
rium
13
1.4 Whats electricity?
Electricity is a general term that includes different physical effects such as the flow of an electric
charge through a current, static electricity, electromagnetic induction or electromagnetic fields.
Electricity is one of our main energy carriers nowadays but needs to be generated. On big advan-
tage of electricity as an energy carrier is that its one of the most flexible energy forms and clean
in use. Electricity is used in various different areas of application such as lighting, heating, tele-
communication and even entertainment. In the 1870s, when Thomas A. Edison invented the
first commercially practical incandescent light bulb, nobody would have imagined that in the 21
st

century, life without electricity seems to be nearly impossible. This fact always comes to our
minds when electricity is not present due to technical breakdowns for example.
The following lines should explain briefly some important terms in relation to electricity

Electric Charge
The electric charge is a fundamental physical property of atomic and subatomic particles. Elec-
trically charged matter produces electromagnetic fields and is also influenced by them.
The SI unit of the electric charge is the Coulomb which is equivalent to about times
the charge of one single electron or proton. Electric charges can be negative as well as a positive.
Particles with unlike charges are attracting each other while like charges repel.

Electric Field
An electric field (E) is created by a single point charge (q) at a certain distance (r) and it is given
by:

0
(electric constant) = 8, 85.10
-12
F/m

Figure7: The direction of electric field lines.

For a positive charge, the direction of the electric field lines is away from the point charge; while
the direction of the lines is opposite for a negative charge.

18
6, 24 10
2
0
4
r
r
Q e
E
r tc c
=
14

Figure 8: Electric field lines between two charges

Definition: Electric field is a vector field surrounding an electric charge. For a point
charge; it is the force per unit charge. Its unit is Newton per coulomb [N/C] or volts
per meter [V/m].

According to Coulombs law, like charges repel each other and opposite charges attract each
other. The electric force between q
1
and q
2
charges is given by this Coulomb's Law:

r is the distance between the two charges
k is Coulomb's constant and equals to:

Definition: Coulombs Law describes the magnitude of the electrostatic force be-
tween two point electric charges. It is proportional to the product of the magnitudes
of each charge and inversely proportional to the square of the total distance between
the two charges.

2
2 1
r
q q
k F =
2 2 9
0
/ 10 * 9
4
1
C Nm k = =
tc
Note: Michael Faraday contributed first to the concept of an electric field
15
Electric current
Electric current is the rate of flow of electric charges. The SI Unit of electric current intensity is
the ampere. The current (I) can be calculated with the following equation:

Q is the electric charge in coulomb
t is time in seconds

Definition: One Ampere is defined as the constant flow of elementary charges
(e.g. electrons) passing a boundary every second.

Electric Potential
The electric potential energy of
charges is defined as the work
which must be done against this
Coulomb force to rearrange charges
from infinite separation to this con-
figuration or the work done by the
Coulomb force separating the
charges from this configuration to
infinity. Electric potential energy
equals:

The electric field stores energy. The energy density of the electric field is:

Where is the permittivity (dielectric constant) of the medium in which the field exists and E is
the electric field vector.

Definition: Electric potential energy is the work which must be done against the
Coulomb force.

If the charge is accumulated in a capacitor (capacitance C), the reference configuration is usually
selected not to be an infinite separation of charges, but it is accepted that charges are at an ex-
tremely close proximity to each other. The justification for this choice is that is easier to measure
both voltage difference and magnitude of charges on a capacitor plates not against infinite sepa-
ration of charges but rather against the discharged capacitor where charges return to close prox-
imity to each other. In this case the work (the electric potential energy) becomes:

Q
I
t
=
18
6, 24 10
r
q q
E
E P
2 1
0
,
4
1
tc
=
2
2
1
E u c =
+ -
F F
q
1
q
2
+ +
F F
r
Figure 9: Coulomb Forces between two charges.
16

The amount of electric energy due to an electric current can be expressed in:

Here U is the electric potential difference [Volt], Q is the charge [Coulomb], I is the current
[Ampere], t is the time for which the current flows [Sec.]. These expressions are important in the
practical measurement of energy as potential difference.
Example:

Desktop Computer 60 - 250 watts
Laptop 15 - 45 watts
17" CRT Monitor 80 watts
17" LCD Monitor 35 watts
Sleep / standby 1 - 6 watts

1.5 Renewable energy sources
Worldwide there is a wide range of different energy resources available. These energy resources
can be divided into two main categories: renewable and non-renewable energy resources. On the
following pages you should get a brief overview of the different types of energy sources and
their sustainability.

Non-renewable Energy Resources
A non-renewable resource is a natural resource that cannot be produced, re-grown, regenerated,
or reused on a scale which can sustain its consumption rate. These resources are often in a fixed
amount, or are consumed much faster than nature can recreate them.

Definition: Non-renewable resources are the natural resources that take millions of
years to form naturally and cannot be replaced as fast as they are being consumed

Currently, the main energy sources used by humans are non-renewable.
Non-renewable sources of energy can be divided into two types: fossil fuels and nuclear fuel.
Fossil fuels are coal, petroleum and natural gas.

C
q
E
E P
2
2
,
=
t I U E or Q U E * * * = =
Cost Total kWh per Cost
used Hours Watt
= *
1000
*
Note:
0
is electric constant and equal to 8, 85.10
-12
F/m
k is Coulombs constant and equal to 9.10
9
Nm
2
/C
17
Fossil Fuels

Definition: Fossil fuels are formed by the natural resources such as anaerobic de-
composition of buried dead organisms that lived up to 300 million years ago. These
fuels insist of high percentage of carbon and hydrocarbons

Fossil fuels vary from contain volatile materials with low carbon hydrogen ratios like methane
and liquid petroleum to non-volatile materials composed of almost pure carbon, like coal.

Coal: As a fossil fuel, it is the largest source of energy for the generation of electricity and heat
through combustion worldwide, and at the same time it is one of the largest worldwide sources
of carbon dioxide emissions. About 6.2 billion tons coal is produced per year in the world.
When coal is used for electricity generation, it is usually pulverized and then burned in a furnace
with a boiler. The furnace heat converts boiler water to steam, which is then used to spin turbines
which turn generators and create electricity.
Other efficient ways to use coal are combined cycle power plants, combined heat and power co-
generation, and an MHD (magneto hydrodynamic dynamo) topping cycle.

Petroleum: Petroleum is a liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various
molecular weights and other organic compounds. It is also called crude oil. It has been formed
naturally by a slow decomposition of organic matter under the earth's surface. It is found in rock
formations consisting of cavities and crevices, and through the substance of the rock.
The hydrocarbons in crude oil are mostly alkanes, cycloalkanes and various aromatic hydrocar-
bons while the other organic compounds contain nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur, and metals such
as iron, nickel, copper and vanadium.
Fuels are obtained from distillation of petroleum. The most common fuels are:

- Ethane and other short-chain alkanes
- Diesel fuel
- Fuel oils
- Gasoline (Petrol)
- Jet fuel
- Kerosene (Paraffin)
- Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)

Example: Total crude oil production in the world is 85471.764 [Thousand barrels per day]
(2008). Its total consumption is 85896.905 [Thousand barrels per day] (2007).

Note: The amount of potential energy in coal that can be converted into actual heating
ability is 24 MJ/kg; in other way it is 6, 67 kWh/kg. .
Nota: In crude oil, which with oxygen react exothermically, is stored energy 46, 3 MJ/
kg; this means 12, 86 kWh/kg.
18
Natural Gas: Natural gas is a flammable gas mixture in the earth's crust. It is also an oil deriva-
tive. Gas takes place as the second ranking of importance from crude oil. It mostly includes 70-
90 % Methane (CH
4
) with other hydrocarbons such as; ethane (C
2
H
6
), propane (C
3
H
8
), butane
(C
4
H
10
) and it may contain carbon dioxide (CO
2
), nitrogen (N
2
), helium (He) and hydrogen sul-
phur (H
2
S).
Natural gas is used in electricity generation through the use of gas turbines and steam turbines.
Particularly high efficiencies can be achieved by using in-grid peaking power plants and grid en-
gine generators through combining gas turbines with a steam turbine in combined cycle mode.
Natural gas burns is cleaner than coal and oil because it produces less carbon dioxide per unit
energy released.

Natural gas is also used in houses for such purposes as cooking in natural gas-powered ranges
and/or ovens, natural gas-heated clothes dryers, heating/cooling and central heating. Home or
other building heating may include boilers, furnaces, and water heaters.
CNG (compressed natural gas) is used in rural homes without connections to piped-in public
utility services, or with portable grills. However, it is less economical than LPG (liquefied petro-
leum gas), which is the dominant source of rural gas.

Example: Energy density of natural gas is 53.6 MJ/kg (or 10 MJ/L) and world wide its produc-
tion per year is 127787 [Billion Cubic Feet]. In the same year (2006) world wide 104425 [Billion
Cubic Feet] dry natural gas is consumed.

Nuclear Fuel
There are potentially two sources of nuclear power: Fission power and Fusion power.
Several heavy elements, such as uranium, thorium, and plutonium, undergo both spontaneous
fission, a form of radioactive decay and induced fission. Fission is used in all current nuclear
power plants. In a fission reactor, neutrons produced by fission of fuel atoms are used to induce
yet more fission, to sustain a controllable amount of energy release. Fission power's long-term
sustainability depends on the amount of uranium and thorium that are available to be mined, on
the operators' abilities to dispose of the waste safely and on the continued prevention of major
accidents.
Most common uses of these reactors are:
- Power reactors: To produce heat for nuclear power, either as part of a generating station or
a local power system such as a nuclear submarine.
- Research reactors: To produce neutrons and activate radioactive sources for scientific,
medical, engineering, or other research purposes.
- Breeder reactors: To produce nuclear fuels in bulk from more abundant isotopes.
Fusion is the reaction that powers stars, including the sun, which remains impractical for use on
earth. Research into controlled fusion, with the aim of producing fusion power for the production
of electricity, has been conducted for over 50 years. Fusion power commonly proposes the use of
deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, as fuel and in many current designs also use lithium. Fusion
power's long-term sustainability depends on whether or not a practical, affordable technology
can be developed.
Note: For an equivalent amount of heat, burning natural gas produces about 30 % less
carbon dioxide than burning petroleum and about 45% less than burning coal.
19
When the fusion reaction is a sustained uncontrolled chain, it can result in a thermonuclear ex-
plosion. For example this is generated by a hydrogen bomb.
Both types create radioactive waste in the form of activated structural material, which is one of
the sustainability issues.

Renewable Energy Resources
Eventually natural resources will become too costly to harvest and humanity will need to find
other sources of energy. The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem.

Definition: Una risorsa naturale una risorsa rinnovabile se viene rimpiazzata con
un processo naturale in modi e tempi adeguati e comparabili al tasso di consumo.

The most important renewable energy sources are bio fuel, hydropower, solar power, wind
power, and geothermal power.

Bio fuel
Plants use photosynthesis to grow and produce biomass, which can be used directly as fuel or
production of bio fuels. Agriculturally produced biomass fuels, can be burned in internal com-
bustion engines or boilers. Typically bio fuel is burned to release its stored chemical energy.
When biomass is combusted to produce heat, it releases less carbon than was absorbed by the
plant material during the plant's life cycle. There are two main reasons: First is; approximately
one third of the carbon absorbed by the plant during its life is sequestered in its roots, which are
left in the soil to rot and fertilize nearby plant life, and second is; depending on type of plant
used combustion of biomass produces 1-10% solid ash, which is extremely high in carbon.
Research into more efficient methods of converting bio fuels and other fuels into electricity util-
izing fuel cells is an area of very active work. Using waste biomass to produce energy can reduce
the use of fossil fuels, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce pollution and waste manage-
ment problems.
Mostly mentioned bio fuels are: Bio diesel, Bio alcohols, Biogas, Solid bio fuel (pellets).

Bio diesel: Bio diesel can be made from animal oils and lipids or from waste and virgin vegeta-
ble such as sunflower- or rapeseeds, which are pressed to yield vegetable oil. It can be used in
modern diesel vehicles with little or no modification to the engine. A major advantage of bio die-
sel use is the reduction in net CO
2
and CO emissions. Compared with other fuels (diesel and pet-
rol) it reduces emissions by 20 to 40%.

Bio alcohol: Seeds or grains such as wheat, which yields starch that is fermented into bio etha-
nol, which can be used in internal combustion engines and fuel cells. Ethanol is being phased
into the current energy infrastructure. For example, E85 is a fuel composed of 85 % ethanol and
15 % gasoline that is sold to consumers. Bio butanol is being developed as an alternative to bio
ethanol.

Biogas: Biogas is produced by the process of anaerobic digestion of organic material by anaer-
obes. It can be produced either from biodegradable waste materials or by the use of energy crops
fed into anaerobic digesters to supplement gas yields.
Biogas can easily be produced from current waste streams, such as paper production, sugar pro-
duction, sewage and animal waste or alternatively via advanced waste processing systems such
as mechanical biological treatment. Various waste streams have to be together and allowed to
naturally ferment, producing methane gas. This can be converted into biogas. When a biogas
20
plant has extracted all the methane it can, the remains are sometimes more suitable as fertilizer
than the original biomass. Landfill gas is a less clean form of biogas which is produced in land-
fills through naturally occurring anaerobic digestion. If it escapes into the atmosphere it is a po-
tent greenhouse gas.

Solid bio fuel: Solid biomass is usually used directly as a combustible fuel, producing 10-20 MJ/
kg of heat. Examples include wood, sawdust; grass cuttings, domestic refuse, charcoal, agricul-
tural waste, non-food energy crops, and dried manure. When raw biomass is already in a suitable
form such as firewood, it can burn directly in a stove or furnace. When raw biomass is in an in-
convenient form such as sawdust, wood chips, grass, agricultural wastes, another option is to pel-
letize the biomass with a pellet mill. The resulting fuel pellets are easier to burn in a pellet stove.
Another solid bio fuel is bio char, which is produced by biomass pyrolyse.

Hydropower

Hydroelectric power: This power is derived from the force or energy of moving water. Most hy-
droelectric power comes from the potential energy of dammed water driving a water turbine and
generator. In this case the energy extracted from the water depends on the volume and on the dif-
ference in height between the source and the water's outflow.
Hydropower generated electricity supplies about 715,000 MW or 19% of world electricity. It
produces essentially no carbon dioxide or other emissions, in contrast to burning fossil fuels, and
is not a significant contributor to global warming through CO
2
.

Tidal Power: It is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides into electricity or other
useful forms. Harnessing the tides in a bay or estuary has been achieved in France, Canada and
Russia. The trapped water turns turbines as it is released through the tidal barrage in either direc-
tion. A possible fault is that the system would generate electricity most efficiently in bursts every
six hours once every tide. This limits the applications of tidal energy; tidal power is highly pre-
dictable but not able to follow changing electrical demand.

Wave Power: This is the transport of energy by ocean surface waves, and the capture of that en-
ergy to do useful work, for example for electricity generation, water desalination, or the pumping
of water into reservoirs. Harnessing power from ocean surface wave motion might yield much
more energy than tides. The feasibility of this has been investigated, particularly in Scotland in
the UK.

Solar power
Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity. Sunlight can be converted directly into
electricity using photovoltaic (PV), or indirectly with concentrating solar power (CSP), which
normally focuses the sun's energy to boil water which is then used to provide power, and other
technologies, such as the sterling engine dishes which use a sterling cycle engine to power a gen-
erator.
Photovoltaic was initially used to power small and medium-sized applications, from the calcula-
tor powered by a single solar cell to off-grid homes powered by a photovoltaic array.
The only significant problem with solar power is installation cost. But solar power can be com-
bined with other energy sources to provide continuous power

21

Wind power

Differences in density between two air masses leads to wind. The Earth is unevenly heated by
the sun resulting in the poles receiving less energy from the sun than the equator does. Differen-
tial heating between the poles and the equator lead to the development of the jet stream and the
associated climatological mid-latitude westerlies, polar easterlies, and the trade winds. Winds are
commonly classified by their spatial scale, their speed, the types of forces that cause them, the
geographic regions in which they occur, and their effect.
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form, such as electricity, using wind
turbines. Most of the energy stored in wind movements can be found at high altitudes where con-
tinuous wind speeds of over 160 km/h occur. Eventually, the wind energy is converted through
friction into diffuse heat throughout the Earth's surface and the atmosphere.
In year 2008, worldwide nameplate capacity of wind-powered generators was 121.2 GW. Wind
power produces about 1.5% of worldwide electricity use.
All types of renewable energy (except tidal and geothermal energy) and even fossil fuel energy
come from the sun as a result. The sunshine comes into earth surface with energy, 10
14
kW/h. In
other words the earth obtains 10
18
W energy per hour.
1-2% of incoming energy from the sun is converted to wind energy. This is 50-100 times higher
then the energy, which all the plants on earth convert into bio-mass energy

Geothermal power

Geothermal energy is energy obtained by tapping the heat of the earth itself, usually from kilo-
meters deep into the Earth's crust. It is expensive to build a power station but operating costs are
low resulting in low energy costs for suitable sites. Ultimately, this energy derives from heat in
the Earth's core.
Three types of power plants are used to generate power from geothermal energy: dry steam,
flash, and binary. Dry steam plants take steam out of fractures in the ground and use it to directly
drive a turbine that spins a generator. Flash plants take hot water, usually at temperatures over
200 C, out of the ground, and allows it to boil as it rises to the surface then separates the steam
phase in steam/water separators and then runs the steam through a turbine. In binary plants, the
hot water flows through heat exchangers, boiling an organic fluid that spins the turbine. The con-
densed steam and remaining geothermal fluid from all three types of plants are injected back into
the hot rock to pick up more heat.

Example: In 2005, 24 countries generated a total of 56,786 GWh (204 PJ) of electricity from
geothermal power. In 2007, the global capacity was 10 GW.

Note: Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking sys-
tems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. The concentrated heat is then
used as a heat source for a conventional power plant.
A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell (PV), is a device that converts light into electric cur-
rent using the photoelectric effect.
22
References

Hyperphysics: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hbase/hph.html
Energy Information Administration: http://www.eia.doe.gov/
BBC Learning Schools: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/
Energy Star: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=guidelines.download_guidelines
Energy Management Handbook, Wayne C. Turner; Steve Doty; Sixth Edition, 2006
Guide to Energy Management, B L Capehart, Wayne C. Turner, William J. Kennedy, 2008

23
2 Guidelines for using the IUSES educational toolkit

The main objective of the IUSES program is to achieve a change of student behaviour in terms
of intelligent use of energy. The needs of different students and learning types should be met by
various tools containing information on the one hand and the possibility to find out how intelli-
gent use of energy works in a practical way, on the other hand. The IUSES Toolkit not only con-
tains information for students but also a guideline for teachers, to make the integration of IUSES
in an existing curriculum as easy as possible.
The IUSES Toolkit consists of 6 different parts: 3 Handbooks for students (Building, Transport
and Industry), the Teachers Guidebook, the Experimental Toolkit and a Multimedia DVD.

2.1 Integration of the different Tools
The IUSES toolkit offers various different possibilities for integration in the classes. One main
aim of the IUSES toolkit is to provide sufficient material for most of the lectures taught in differ-
ent types of schools. The huge amount of information offers the chance to be able to pick out es-
pecially the information relevant to the special type of school, to the age of the students or to
their special needs and interests. The process of gaining information on energy efficiency and
energy savings by the IUSES toolkit should be guided by the teacher and motivate students to try
to find out more about the mentioned topics for themselves.

2.2 Student handbooks
The handbooks can be used in different ways by students and teachers. For students the hand-
books contain a lot of information to work trough. The teacher should guide the students through
the handbooks and extract the information concerning the needs of the students in the specific
type of school. Beyond the topics mentioned at school, students can brush up their knowledge by
working through the handbooks themselves.
To make the handbooks as interactive as possible, tips for exercises, experiments and other ac-
tions are mentioned in the handbooks. Those tips and hints should be used helping students un-
derstand the content of the handbooks better. Depending on the taught subject different types of
exercises can be used. Questions and starting points for discussions for example can be used in
language lessons or as topics for written work. They could also be a start for students own re-
search on different topic.
It is not necessarily important to work through all the Handbooks from the beginning to the end.
Its also possible to pick out some main topics and put them together depending on the interests
and needs of the students. Teachers are also encouraged to plan an educational program covering
several school years and integrating different subjects in a multidisciplinary approach.
Besides information on designing lessons and the general concept of the IUSES toolkit, the
teachers guidebook also contains information for setting up an energy saving plan. The energy
saving plan should help teachers and headmasters to increase energy efficiency at school and
should guide them by offering a systematic approach on energy saving measures. Students
should be fully implemented in all energy saving measures to make them as effective as possible.
Teachers and building handbook are plenty of information on planning and implementing an en-
ergy saving plan (a file excel to make calculations is also available). Teachers could also take a
school mobility plan into consideration. In the later case the transport handbook can support
them in this task.

24
Key to symbols

2.2.1 Introduction to the Transport Handbook
The IUSES Handbook on Transport tries to give the students an overview of energy efficiency in
the transport sector and how they can save energy in an area they experience every day. Trans-
port is needed to secure our supply of goods, get us from one point to another and keep our econ-
omy running, but transport is also a large consumer of energy with a widespread potential to in-
crease efficiency.
This handbook consists in 4 chapters as follows:
- The Chapter 1: Main impacts of transport and statistics
- The Chapter 2: Conventional and alternative fuels
- The Chapter 3: Alternative transport
- The Chapter 4: Sustainable transport
The first chapter should give students an idea how transport affects their lives and what influence
transport has on their environment. The student learns by examining different statistical data and

Definition: this is to indicate a definition of a
term, explaining what it means.
Notes: this shows that something is impor-
tant, a tip or a vital piece of information.
Watch out for these!

Learning Objective: these are at the begin-
ning of each chapter and they explain what
you will learn in that chapter.
Experiment, Exercise or Activity: this indi-
cates something for you to do, based upon
what you have learned.
Weblink: this shows an internet address
where you can get more information
Reference: this indicates where some infor-
mation came from.

Case Study: when we give an actual example
or a real situation.

Key Points: this is a summary (usually in bul-
let points) of what you have covered, usually
at the end of a chapter
Question: this indicates when we are asking
you to think about a question, especially at the
end of chapters
Level 2: this marks an in-depth section
25
considering case studies and questions to work out in groups or by themselves, what problems
and difficulties are caused by transport.
In Chapter 2 the students are introduced to the basic information (definitions, characteristics)
about conventional fuels (the fuels that drive trucks, planes, ships, cars and various other vehi-
cles used for different transport tasks) and alternative fuels (that will prove to be more and more
important), including renewable sources: aspects related to consumption and to how to reduce
pollution; tips for saving energy (and hence fuel) during your daily transport and how to keep
things simple, healthy and environmental (KISS principle).
Chapter 2 also explains how these fuels are produced and it offers a view to the major trends and
difficulties connected with conventional and alternative fuels.
The proposed questions at the end of the chapter and the advice on using and saving fuels have
as main aim to aid pupils in fixing the new knowledge acquired.
Chapter 3 deals with Alternative Transport and takes a close look on these means of transport
that keep people fit and that might have a positive social impact. This chapter also discusses the
trends in vehicle development and explains for example the concept of a hybrid cars. Case stud-
ies and tips complete the view on alternative transport, stressing the benefits of using public
transport and physical activity.
The authors hope that the ideas promoted in this chapter and the advice given, will have the de-
sired impact on the daily behaviour of the pupils/students in relation to physical motion and ef-
fort, contributing in this manner to preventing obesity among them a state that tends to be more
and more common among youngsters today. Furthermore we hope to see the effects not just in
teenagers, but also in their families and communities.
This chapter also contains some questions and exercises to help students recap the most impor-
tant issues in the chapter.
Chapter 4 of the Transport Handbook is divided into three subchapters dealing with sustainabil-
ity in the Transport sector and providing a school mobility plan. The first part of chapter 4 con-
centrates on the organisational and behavioural aspect of sustainable transport. It takes a close
look on urban transport and how sustainable ways of transport are already implemented in vari-
ous cities all over Europe. Part two of the chapter gives some useful information on sustainable
driving. Though students are usually not yet driving cars they should get an idea of how to save
energy and money by following some simple guidelines. Its better to have this knowledge be-
fore starting learning how to drive and before buying any car. Its very important how one grows
into a driver and which habits one embraces from the start, i.e. re-education of the drivers to-
wards the issues mentioned is less effective. In the third part students get to know all about a
school mobility plan and how to introduce it in their own school.
The implementation of such a plan by those studying the transport handbook may mean two
things: the success of the authors with regard to the objectives established in the elaboration of
this plan, and, on the other hand, the benefits of such behaviours in protecting the environment
and personal health.

2.2.2 Introduction to the Buildings Handbook
The handbook discusses the topics related to buildings and their energy consumption. Individual
chapters are arranged in sequence from the building itself, its envelope, via the HVAC equip-
ments (Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning), appliances and lighting. Although the se-
quence of chapters has been chosen so that the chapters follow each other and deepen the cur-
riculum, its possible to teach chapters individually according to teachers own consideration.
Each chapter is a separate unit, which is then further divided into subsections, which discusses
individual topics in detail.
26
Key points of each chapter:

- Introduction
o This chapter is very general, its only a brief introduction into the buildings and their
energy demands and consumption.

- Structure of buildings (basic knowledge)
o Introduction to the role of the building envelope boundary between external and
internal environment
o Explanation of the heat transfer principle and its application in buildings the con-
cept of energy balance of a building
o Explanation of impact of the buildings envelope on energy consumption
o Brief introduction into building materials, insulation and constructional elements
windows (basic knowledge suitable for non-technical orientation of education)
o Bioclimatic building design deals with efficient use of free energy especially
the sunlight
Introduction (= basic knowledge)
Subchapter 2.3.1. Passive solar elements (= advanced level of knowledge)
o Tips and hints for better use of the building (basic knowledge suitable for all stu-
dents) tips how to save energy in buildings simply and effectively
o Exercise and questions (basic knowledge), glossary, web links related to topics and
key points appropriate to remember

- Climatization (both basic and advanced level of knowledge) This very large chapter is di-
vided into two parts dealing with heating and cooling of the interior and provides both basic and
deeper level of knowledge.
o Heating (both basic and advanced level of knowledge)
The internal microclimate and thermal comfort this chapter is an introduction
to heating and provides answers to the questions why and how to heat properly
building for persons living (basic knowledge)
A brief introduction to heating systems and summary of that (basic knowledge)
Brief overview of energy sources for heating (both basic and advanced level of
knowledge)
Heat pumps familiarization with this the nowadays popular source of heating
Solar energy this chapter deals with the active use of energy from the sun
(both basic and advanced level of knowledge)
Heating elements introduction (basic knowledge) + enumeration and com-
parison of various heating elements (deepening knowledge)

o Cooling Air conditioning (both basic and advanced level of knowledge)
Definition of thermal comfort for cooling
Explanation of the principle of compressor refrigeration or air-conditioning
system, determining its efficiency and energy consumption (advanced level of
knowledge)
Tips and hints on how to properly use the air conditioner (basic knowledge -
suitable for all students)
Exercise and questions (basic knowledge), web links associated with topics and
key points appropriate to remember

27
- Domestic hot water preparation (both basic and advanced level of knowledge)
o The chapter provides an overview of peoples average consumption of hot water
(basic knowledge)
o Summary of options on how to prepare domestic hot water and a brief description of
the appliances for DHW (deepening knowledge)
o Tips and hints for better use of DHW and the reduction of its consumption and costs
(basic knowledge suitable for all students) tips on how to simply and effectively
save energy in DHW
o A brief comment on the solar heating of DHW
o Exercise and questions (basic knowledge), web links associated with topics and key
points appropriate to remember

- Lighting (basic knowledge)
o Introduction to daylight and artificial lighting
o Overview of sources of artificial lighting
o Tips and hints to reduce energy consumption of lighting
o Exercise and questions (basic knowledge), web links associated with topics and key

- Electric appliances and electronic devices (basic knowledge)
Note. on IUSES CD a game monitoring energy consumption of appliances in a model flat is
available. This game deepens the curriculum of this chapter.
o This chapter describes energy consumption of the most common appliances used in
households
o It introduces to students the energy label of electric appliances and what data can be
got from it
o It shows how you can easily calculate electricity consumption in the household and
how to read the utility bill (basic knowledge suitable for all students)
o Tips and hints on how to use various household appliances and how to reduce en-
ergy consumption (basic knowledge suitable for all students)
Exercise and questions (basic knowledge), web links associated with topics and key

- Photovoltaic energy (both basic and advanced level of knowledge)
o Introduction to the problem of generating electricity from the sun (basic knowledge)
o Deeper information about the production of solar electricity how much energy can
produce a PV system (advanced level of knowledge)
Exercise and questions (basic), a glossary, web links related to topics and key points
appropriate to remember

- Exercise monitoring energy consumption home/school facilities energy audit
o This chapter provides a detailed guide to create a do it yourself audit of the build-
ing (basic knowledge suitable for all students)
o The audit can be processed both manually and electronically there are available
Excel sheets templates (on the DVD and the IUSES web page), which can help with
data recording and creation of the audit.
28
2.2.3 Introduction to the Industry handbook
The Industry Handbook should give information on energy use in industry and the problems re-
lated to large scale energy consumption.
The Handbook contains a lot of technical information illustrated with pictures and graphics but
also tips, important points, activities, exercises and experiments to find out in an interactive way
how efficient energy use works.
The first chapter of the handbook contains a general introduction to energy. Students should
learn about what the term energy means and should understand where energy comes from and
what the main Problems are. Another main goal of this chapter is to get to know how energy is
measured and how it can be converted in different forms. Students should get a basic idea of the
amount of energy they are dealing with in every day life. The content of the first chapter is easily
understandable for all kinds of students and can be used in every type of school.
Chapter 2 gives an overview on different sources of Energy and clearly points out the difference
between renewable and non renewable energy sources. A main part is to describe in detail the
problems related to fossil fuels and other non renewable energy sources. This chapter contains
background information on energy supply in general and shows how renewable energy sources
are developing.
In Chapter 3 Students should learn how energy is used in large scale industrial processes. The
first part of the Chapter mainly deals with energy transformation and how different types of en-
ergy sources are made accessible. It is explained which energy carriers are used in the industry
and which technology is available to minimize losses in the conversion process. Especially in
explaining the different possibilities of converting energy, the Experimental Toolkit of the
IUSES package might be helpful.
In the second part of chapter 3 the end use of energy in the industry is discussed. This chapter
aims at technical schools and contains a lot of detailed information for making different process
units more efficient. This chapter may be a good starting point for a visit at a nearby industrial
plant.
Chapter 4 deals with Energy Management and shows how organisational improvements can be
an important tool for the improvement of energy efficiency and to save energy as effective as
possible. Especially for schools with economic background the energy management part of the
industry handbook can easily be implemented in the lessons because a lot of the proposed path-
ways appear in other economic analyses. The information on energy management can also be
helpful in setting up an energy saving plan at school as a project work.
The last chapter of the industry handbook deals with the pulp and paper industry as one example
for a large scale industrial process with high energy demand. The pulp and paper industry was
chosen because students can easily relate to paper because of their daily use of paper at school.
This example contains mainly advanced information on the industrial process which could be
used in technical schools.
At the end of the chapter a big exercise deals with the process of paper making. Students can
make their own paper and can easily detect in which part of the process the biggest amounts of
energy are consumed. The exercise is well described with a lot of pictures and also offers the
possibility to carry out simple calculations on the energy demand of the different steps.

29
2.3 Experimental toolkit
The experiments kit is an experiments tool box created for teachers and their students to have a
direct and interactive experience with issues related to energy efficiency, the use of renewable
energy sources and energy saving behaviour. Thanks to the tools, animations and handbooks
contained in the box, the users can perform a number of experiments on different energy-related
issues. The purpose of these exercises is to identify some issues (like thermal energy dispersion
or energy consumption) and to associate one or two tests to them in order to fully understand the
consequences of some of our daily behaviour.
The experiments kit can easily be integrated in physics or science lessons for example, offering
also possibilities for the students to integrate their own experiments ideas.
A guideline for some experiments to do with it and the list of materials needed is available on the
web site www.iuses.eu.

Materials included in the experimental kit box

Quantity Object Technical Properties Note
6 Panels Thermal insulation material
for buildings (Stiferite)
Instead of this material
you can use a polysty-
rene box
1 Photovoltaic panel 1,5 W, 6 V
1 LED Colour: red
1 Incandescent light bulb with
E10 base
4,8 V; 0,3 A
4 Crocodile clips with covers For testing circuits by mak-
ing temporary connections

2 Electrical cables
1 Digital thermometer -40 to +200 C
1 Energy meter 230 V, 50 Hz, 16 A, 3680W
1 Windmill Solar powered model
1 Box Cardboard box
1 CD Download the files in-
cluded in the CD also
from the project web
site (www.iuses.eu)
30
List of experiments

The experiments listed below will help you test, describe and understand some of the alternative
energy principles:

EXPERIMENT 1: BUILDING THE BOX
Necessary materials: the Stiferite panels (6), double-sided tape;
not included in the kit box: scissors (1).
Build a box by using the six Stiferite panels; fix them to each other with some double-sided tape.
Keep in mind that one panel has to be removable, while the others can be fixed.

EXPERIMENT 2: MELTING THE ICE
Necessary material: the Stiferite box;
not included in the kit box: a small dish, ice cubes of similar size (2), timer (1).
Take one of the ice cubes and put it in the box using the small dish. Close the box with the re-
movable panel and verify how much time the ice cube takes to melt. Take another ice cube of the
same size of the first one and repeat the experiment without closing the box. What do you under-
stand from this experiment?

EXPERIMENT 3: SWITCHING THE LIGHT ON WITHOUT POWER PLUG
Necessary material: photovoltaic panel (1), incandescent light bulb with E10 base (1), LED (1),
electrical cables (2), crocodile clips (4);
not available in the kit box: a source of artificial light.
Connect the photovoltaic panel to the supplied bulbs (one at a time), by using the electric wires
and the crocodile clips at your disposal. Light up the photovoltaic panel through an artificial light
source, then try with the natural one (the sun): make sure the bulb connected to the panel
switches on. If the bulb does not light, what could be the reasons (a bad connection between
wires and bulbs, not enough light hitting the photovoltaic panel, broken bulbs)?

EXPERIMENT 4: THERMAL INSULATION (I)
Necessary material: the Stiferite box, incandescent light bulb with E10 base (1), electrical ca-
bles (2), crocodile clips (4), digital thermometer (1);
not included in the kit box: 4.5 V battery (1), sheet of paper (1), pen (1), timer (1).
Put the incandescent light bulb connected to a 4.5 V battery (using the electrical cables) into the
Stiferite box. Close the box with the removable panel and make a small hole on it using the
pointed tip of the digital thermometer. Then insert the thermometer into the box, leaving the dis-
play outside. On a sheet of paper note the initial temperature inside the box and then measure it
after a certain time interval (at least 15 minutes). Repeat this experiment with the box open and
with the box closed. What do you notice? What do you have to do in order to obtain a more obvi-
ous temperature change?

31
EXPERIMENT 5: THERMAL INSULATION (II)
Necessary material: the Stiferite box, LED (1), electrical cables (2), crocodile clips (4), digital
thermometer (1);
not included in the kit box: 4.5 V battery (1), sheet of paper (1), pen (1), timer (1).
Repeat the same experiment replacing the incandescent bulb with the LED. Take note of the tem-
perature variation at the same time intervals, and compare the results with the ones from the pre-
vious experiment. What are the differences and why?

EXPERIMENT 6: PHOTOVOLTAIC PANEL AND HEATING (I)
Necessary material: photovoltaic panel (1), LED (1), electrical cables (2), crocodile clips (4);
not included in the kit box: incandescent lamp (light bulb at least 60 W).
As you had a chance to see, the incandescent light bulb warms up the environment. Is the energy
it releases able to turn a LED on? Test this by using an incandescent light bulb as a light source:
put it close to the photovoltaic panel connected to the LED and verify whether it switches on or
not.

EXPERIMENT 7: PHOTOVOLTAIC PANEL AND HEATING (II)
not included in the kit box: neon lamp.
Repeat experiment 6 replacing the incandescent light bulb lamp with a neon one. Does the LED
connected to the photovoltaic panel switch on? Is there more or less thermal dispersion in the
environment?

EXPERIMENT 8: PHOTOVOLTAIC PANEL AND HEATING (III)
not included in the kit box: lamp with low energy light bulb (with the same power as the 60 W
incandescent light bulb).
Repeat experiment 6 replacing the incandescent light bulb lamp with a low energy one. Does the
LED connected to the photovoltaic panel switch on? With this kind of light bulb, is there more or
less thermal dispersion in the environment?

EXPERIMENT 9: PHOTOVOLTAIC PANEL AND SUNLIGHT
Necessary material: photovoltaic panel (1), incandescent light bulb with E10 base (1), electrical
cables (2), crocodile clips (4).
During one of the previous experiments you have noticed that the photovoltaic panel receiving
light from the sun transforms it into electrical energy; now go outside and put the photovoltaic
panel in front of the sun, then rotate it; does the incandescent light bulb connected to the panel
still switch on? What do you understand from this experiment?

32
EXPERIMENT 10: DIFFERENT MATERIALS, SAME TEMPERATURE?
Necessary material: the Stiferite box, double-sided tape;
not included in the kit box: panels made of paperboard, nylon or other material.
Use the panels to build at least two different kit boxes (for example out of paperboard or nylon).
Then repeat all the previous experiments. What are the differences in the results you obtain?

EXPERIMENT 11: THERMAL INSULATION (III)
Necessary material: the Stiferite box, objects and tools used in previous experiments;
not included in the kit box: cutter (1).
Cut a window and a door on the two opposite sides of the box, so as to make it look like a house.
What results do you obtain if you repeat some of the previous experiments with the door or the
window (or both of them) open?

EXPERIMENT 12: MEASURING ENERGY CONSUMPTION
Necessary material: energy meter (1), file with exercise included in the CD;
not included in the kit box: appliances.
Using the energy meter, measure the energy consumption of different appliances. Try to define
the total consumption of energy in different environments, situations, habits of your life (at
school, at home, etc), using as template the tables reported in the excel file included in the CD.

EXPERIMENT 13: SOLAR AND WIND POWER
Necessary material: solar-powered windmill component.
Follow the instructions to build the windmill, verify its functioning and discuss with your friends
energy transformations and energy saving.

33
2.4 Multimedia CD
The third tool available for students and teachers is the multimedia CD, developed to respond to
two main requirements: the first is to be the synthesis of the main concept described in the three
student handbook by using the visualization as a way of learning; the second is to draw the stu-
dents attention, presenting energy saving topics through an interactive, up-to-date tool. The ani-
mation should also motivate students to further explore energy topics and show how they can
change their way of living including more energy-efficient measures
In addition to the animations, the CD contains interactive exercises - that will allow students to
check what they have learned - the three student handbooks, the teachers guidebook and the
guidelines for the use of the experiments kit. They can be used in the lectures as well as at home
by the students themselves.
The animations included in the CD are divided into three different sections: home, transport and
industry. Each section was developed on the basis of the criteria that can be summed up in three
words: Space-Rules-Behaviour.
In the house section, at a click of the mouse, students can walk through a virtual flat (Space) and
choose different electrical devices to switch on or off, concerning their own daily use of electric-
ity or to try out different behaviour in energy consumption. During the interactions with the de-
vices some Rules are displayed (technical and scientific details related to each devices energy
consumption), so students can easily compare the effects of changing their Behaviour by using
the suggestions and use these results as starting point for further calculations.
The transport section provides two Spaces, the first is dedicated to different means of transport,
the second to ecological and safety driving. In this case Rules and Behaviour are discussed fol-
lowing different criteria: on one hand, by trying out different means of transport on travelling
routes and the energy efficiency and the CO
2
emission of different ways of travelling can be
shown. Teachers are invited to read the methodological note included in the tool to understand
correctly the results of the calculator. On the other hand, in the second Space, the goal is to
recall and give to the students some simple rules for a safe eco-driving. This section can be used
also as a lesson for those students that already have started to drive, for themselves, but is also
a good lesson to be worked through at home with the students parents. The tips are also pre-
sented in the transport handbook and can therefore be useful to intensify the lessons learnt in the
lecture.
The third section, Space-Rules-Behaviour, related to the industry, were developed in a narra-
tive way, to give teachers a new, simple and attractive tool for in-depth lessons in classroom on
high energy consumption in an industrial site, with a high level of interaction and a high quality
user interface. The paper making process was chosen because every student can easily relate to
paper and it is also described in the industry handbook through flow-sheets and a hands-on exer-
cise on paper making.

2.5 Power point slides
Power point slides are also available on IUSES web site and they can be freely used by teachers
in presenting the topics included in the handbooks.
The slides includes the main topics dealt by handbooks and be easily adapted by the teachers to
their own lessons.
Students should be aware that the slides cannot substitute the handbooks!

34
2.6 Educational pathways
The IUSES Educational material is supposed to be used in different school types with various
educational approaches. Furthermore there is the possibility to take a basic or an advanced ap-
proach towards a training course for intelligent energy use. The Basic course is designed for a
duration of 8 hours, containing a mixture of experiments, exercises and basic information on in-
telligent use of energy.
The advanced course contains more sophisticated information on the topic and is planned as a 20
hour course.

Figure 10: Educational pathways

As example humanistic, technical and business approaches shall be described now in more de-
tail. The different examples should be seen as a suggestion and can easily be adapted to reflect
the needs of various school types.

2.6.1 Humanistic
The Humanistic approach towards intelligent use of energy concentrates more on the non-
technical parts of the Handbooks. The main elements of the humanistic oriented course are fo-
cused on Transport (public transport, transport of consumer goods, etc.) and Buildings. The In-
dustry Handbook provides basic information about energy and energy production.
Key elements of teaching the Humanistic approach of IUSES are discussions, group works, stu-
dent reports, experiments, etc. All handbooks are translated in the languages of the partner coun-
tries and could for example also be used in language classes.

35

Figure 11: Participation of the different Handbooks on the Humanistic approach of teaching

Basic (only level I Information!)

Industry Handbook
Chapters 1+2 from the Industry Handbook should be used to get basic Information on the Energy
Issue and make students aware of energy related problems. The first chapters should make stu-
dents familiar with the correct terms used in context with energy and energy efficiency. They
should also get a feeling for the measuring units related to energy. Use questions from the Chap-
ters as a starting point for discussions. You could also use some experiments from the experi-
mental toolkit to explain how energy is transformed.

Transport Handbook
The Transport sector maybe is one of the areas students can get connected to quite easily. They
are confronted with transport issues throughout their whole daytime which creates rooms for dis-
cussions and activities. They should learn about the environmental impacts of the transport sec-
tor, the future trends and how they can save energy by changing behaviour. Especially in chapter
1 of the Transport Handbook the impacts of the transport sector are well described and offer a lot
of possibilities to discuss the problems related to transport. Students can easily get an overview
which means of transport have the main impact on the environment.

Building Handbook
By working through chapter 2 students should get basic information on the heat fluxes inside a
Building and how unnecessary loss of energy could be avoided by a proper thermal insulation.
To get an idea of thermal insulation on a practical level the Experiments on thermal insulation
should be carried out.
Chapters 5+6 of the Buildings Handbook should show students how to use lighting and elec-
tronic devices efficiently by examples they can relate to from their every day life. Especially
electric appliances and electronic devices bear a large potential for an increase of efficiency that
can easily be shown by some simple experiments.

36

Advanced (including also Level II information!)
Industry Handbook
The Industry Handbook gives some good starting points for discussions and also be used to get
basic Information on the Energy Issue. Questions referring to alternative energy sources and the
problems with non renewable sources leave enough room for group works, discussions or stu-
dents reports.
The chapter on the Energy Management system should show how energy saving measures are
introduced in a larger scale and how a systematic approach towards energy efficiency is carried
out.

Transport Handbook
As mentioned above, the Transport sector is one of the areas students can get connected to quite
easily. Within the advanced humanistic approach, students should get in contact with the issues
of transport related problems more intensively and work out things for themselves. The Introduc-
tion of a School Mobility Plan for example gives a great opportunity to let students work things
out for themselves and be able to directly see the results of their work.

Building Handbook
The student should get a more detailed view on the energy saving potential of a building and
how a change of their own behaviour can directly save energy and also money. The experimental
toolkit contains a lot of possibilities to find out the effectiveness of different energy efficient
measures and basic physical relations for themselves. The lectures should concentrate on the top-
ics where students can easily influence energy consumption themselves, for example Air Condi-
tioning, Lighting or electric and electronic devices.

2.6..2 Technical
The three different Handbooks contain a lot of technical information, especially interesting for
schools with a focus on engineering and technology. The main part of the technical information
can be found in the Industry and the Buildings Handbook but also the Transport Handbook con-
tains a lot of information on the technical sector. Especially for schools with focus on engineer-
ing and technical issues, possibilities for experiments and exercises are most important. The In-
dustry and Buildings Handbook in combination with the experimental toolkit contain a broad
variety of practical activities for educational use.
37

Figure 12: Participation of the different Handbooks on the Technical approach of teaching


Industry Handbook
From the first two chapters Students should get information of energy in general and the future
trends of energy production. The first chapters also give students a feeling for the measuring
units of energy and can be guided by smaller experiments from the Experimental Toolkit.
They should understand the basic concepts of energy use in industry and the problems related
with energy consumption in a large scale. A main point is to show where energy is lost and how
energy losses occurring through conversion can be minimized. They should learn by different
examples from Industry how efficiency can be increased and energy losses be reduced maybe
also throughout a systematic approach like an Energy Management System.

Building Handbook
By working through chapter 2 students should get basic information on the heat fluxes inside a
Building and how unnecessary loss of energy could be avoided by a proper thermal insulation.
To get an idea of thermal insulation on a practical level the Experiments on thermal insulation
should be carried out.
Chapter 3 gives Information on air conditioning and how to create the right microclimate inside a
Building. Students should understand the fundamentals of heating and cooling as well as the
proper use of these systems in terms of energy efficiency.
tronic devices efficiently by examples they can relate to their every day live. Especially electric
appliances and electronic devices bear a large potential for an increase of efficiency that can eas-
ily be shown by some simple experiments. In general students should understand how they can
minimize energy losses in their private surroundings. The different chapters can also be guided
by the multimedia DVD to get direct results concerning their change of behaviour.

38
Transport Handbook
By working through chapter 2 of the transport handbook students should get a general overview
of fuels uses in the transport sector and also get aware of the problems related to conventional
but also non conventional or alternative fuels. They should also draw their conclusions on alter-
native fuels concerning industrial processes to get a connection between the different Topics.

Advanced (including Level II information)

Industry Handbook
From the first two chapters Students should get information of energy in general and the future
trends of energy production.
They should understand the basic concepts of energy use in industry and the problems related
with energy consumption in a large scale. They should learn by different examples from Industry
how efficiency can be increased and energy losses be reduced maybe also throughout a system-
atic approach like an Energy Management System. By working through the case study on effi-
cient energy uses in the paper industry they should get an idea how elaborated energy measures
are implemented in an industrial process. By performing the experiment on paper making they
should get an idea which process steps require the most energy and how the possibly can save
energy throughout the production process.

Building Handbook
Chapter 1 contains a general overview on different types of Buildings and gives information on
the large variety of buildings with different purposes. By working through chapter 2 students
should get basic information on the heat fluxes inside a Building and how unnecessary loss of
energy could be avoided by a proper thermal insulation. To get an idea of thermal insulation on a
practical level the Experiments on thermal insulation should be carried out.
Chapter 3 gives Information on air conditioning and how to create the right microclimate inside a
Building. Students should understand the fundamentals of heating and cooling as well as the
proper use of these systems in terms of energy efficiency.
appliances and electronic devices bear a large potential for an increase of efficiency that can be
demonstrated by some simple experiments from the experimental toolkit. Main goal especially
for technical schools should be to make young technicians familiar with the different state of the
art concept of energy efficiency and energy saving in building construction.

Transport Handbook
By working through chapter 2 of the transport handbook students should get a general overview
of fuels uses in the transport sector and also get aware of the problems related to conventional
but also non conventional or alternative fuels. In Chapter 3 students learn about alternative forms
of transport and the future trends of transportation. Especially for industrial processes the topic
of energy supply is highly important. So students should also relate the problems with alternative
fuels from the transport sector to large scale industrial processes and compare the different needs
of industry and transport sector.

39
2.6.3 Business
The Business Approach of the IUSES kit concentrates on the Economic and Management issues
of the Energy sector. The students should understand the importance of energy efficiency from
the economic point of view and how they can save costs and resources effectively. The focus of
the Business Approach lies on the Transport and the Industry Handbook providing different
management tools, calculations and exercises with an economic and business background.

Figure 13: Participation of the different Handbooks on the Business approach of teaching

Industry Handbook
The Chapters from the Industry handbook should build the basis for the Business Approach of
the IUSES Toolkit. Students should get basic information on Energy from the first two chapters
and should learn how to save energy in a bigger company or even at school by introducing an
Energy Management system

Building Handbook
tronic devices efficiently by examples from their every day life they can relate to. Especially
electric appliances and electronic devices bear a large potential for an increase of efficiency that
can be demonstrated by some simple experiments from the experimental toolkit. By using the
Buildings part of the Multimedia DVD they can easily carry out simple calculations on energy
demand and can compare results concerning a change in behaviour.

40
Transport Handbook
tor, the future trends and how they can save energy by changing behaviour. In Chapter 3 students
learn about alternative forms of transport and the future trends of transportation. They should
also get an idea of the economic impact of the transport sector and how it is influencing con-
sumption behaviour. The Introduction of a School Mobility Plan for example gives a great op-
portunity to let students work things out for themselves and be able to directly see the results of
their work.

Advanced (including Level II Information)

Industry Handbook
The first chapters from the Industry handbook should build the basis for the Business Approach
of the IUSES Toolkit. Students should get basic information on Energy from the first two chap-
ters and should learn how to save energy in a bigger company or even at school by introducing
an Energy Management system. An important lesson they should learn is how trough a system-
atic approach energy saving measures can be carried out in the most effective way. By perform-
ing the experiment on paper making they should get an idea which process steps require the most
energy and how the possibly can save energy throughout the production process.

Building Handbook
appliances and electronic devices bear a large potential for an increase of efficiency that can be
demonstrated by some simple experiments from the experimental toolkit.

Transport Handbook
tor, the future trends and how they can save energy by changing behaviour. In Chapter 3 students
learn about alternative forms of transport and the future trends of transportation. The Introduc-
tion of a School Mobility Plan for example gives a great opportunity to let students work things
out for themselves and be able to directly see the results of their work.

41
3 ENERGY SAVING PLAN

The energy plan is a vital tool to make your
school energy friendly as well as reducing its
impact on the natural environment and cli-
mate change.
In practice, an energy plan consists of a pro-
gramme to help your school develop a sys-
tematic approach to energy management.
It gives schools a method of fostering a bet-
ter use of energy (electricity and fuel) by
raising awareness and enhancing the efforts
of the students, principals, teachers, and all
school staff to achieve energy conservation
and efficiency.
A practical and effective energy plan com-
prises a few simple steps, as follows:
1. Appoint the energy board (energy
management team).
2. Conduct an energy audit.
3. Establish goals for the programme, specific objectives, or both.
4. Draw up a set of measures to enable the goals to be achieved (action plan).
5. Implement the action plan.
6. Monitor and evaluate progress.
Each school can adapt ;such a model to its own features, context, and needs.
If you want to know more about an energy management plan typically adopted by companies and
in industry, a clear explanation is available in the Handbook Energy Use in Industry, chapter
4.

Step 1
Appoint the energy board (energy management team)
The energy team should be made up of representatives from across the school community, pref-
erably including members of all categories of personnel and students. The number of members
and the manner in which the members board is designed are not important, but their levels of
awareness and engagement are essential.
Good teamwork is a key factor in carrying out such an Energy Plan particularly in its starting
phase, in order to achieve as great a degree of participation as possible.
The main tasks of the energy team can be summarised as follows:
- to take responsibility for the whole process,
- to disseminate the information as necessary across the school,
- to put in operation useful tools (and actions, e.g. to organise activities), and
- to hold internal meetings periodically to improve and monitor the programme.

Step 1
Establish
the Energy
Step 5
Implement
the Action
Step 4
Develop the
Action Plan
Step 3
Set Goals
and Objecti-
Step 2
Conduct the
Energy
Monitor and
Evaluate
Figure 4.1: energy plan
42
Step 2
Energy audit (including an energy review)
An energy audit is often the key step in making your school building more efficient. An audit
can help you assess how much energy your facility uses and discover where potential for energy
conservation mainly lies. But remember, audits alone do not save energy! This is just the starting
point from which to detect energy consumption weaknesses and consequently set up energy sav-
ing measures.
You can perform a simple energy audit yourself or have a professional energy auditor perform a
more thorough audit. Here we will look at a simplified self-performed method.
The steps are as follows:
Gather basic consumption data
Obtain detailed information about sources of energy consumption
Conduct energy review (detecting weakness)
What you need to know to get started: Basic data consumption
Your energy use for the last year: you'll need your utility bills covering at least the last 12
months or a 12-month summary statement from your utility company.
Types of energy sources for your building: natural gas, electricity, gas/diesel oil, propane.
The area of your school facilities in square feet or square metres.
The number of people (students and school personnel) who attend the facilities daily.

Table 4.1: Basic Data on Consumption

The relations among these data will give useful consumption indicators: the yearly (or daily) en-
ergy consumption per square metre and per capita (kWh/m/person) and thus the related emis-
sions (you could use emission factors as described in the exercise included in the Handbook on
Buildings). For fuel consumption, transform mass unit into kWh (by using the exercise in the
Handbook on Buildings) for comparison in table 4.2 below.

Year 1 Year 2
Number of people
Area of the school - Footage (m)
Year 1 Year 2
kWh
Fuel Consumption for Heating
Natural gas (m, kWh)
Propane/Butane (m, kWh, kg)
Heating oil (litres, kg)
Kerosene (kg, litres, kWh)
Wood or other biomass kg
Coal kg
Energy Service Consumption
Electricity Consumption
43

Table 4.2: Consumption Indicators

Detailed energy consumption sources
After developing those consumption indicators, it is recommended that a more in depth data col-
lection is carried out, such as a bottom-up check of all sources of energy consumption active or
existing in your school.
This could be carried out following the instructions given in the Handbook on Buildings, espe-
cially following the first, second and third steps of the exercises included in it. This method will
supply you with fairly detailed and comprehensive data on your school.
The following is a synthesis of the steps which must be performed (please look at the HB Build-
ing Exercise for templates and more information):
- Make an inventory of all energy consuming appliances you can find in your school. This
can be done (using tables as shown) following two main criteria:
checking room by room (gymnasium, refectory, classrooms, kitchen, toilets, labora-
tories, etc.), and/or
checking by type of consumption charge (electric and electronic appliances, lighting,
etc.).
- Divide the equipment according its power source: electricity or fuel type (natural gas, fuel
oil, coal, wood).
- Make a comprehensive list of all electrical appliances, then register the power consump-
tion (wattage) of each and estimate for how long it is used (amount of time for which each
item is switched on). The electricity consumption is obtained by multiplying the wattage
of each appliance by the number of hours used. Energy used (kilowatt hours) = power
(kilowatts) time (hours).
- Finally, calculate the cost of the electricity consumption by multiplying the consumption
by the price of a unit of electricity (as shown on the electricity bill) Cost () = /kWh
kWh
- In order to determine the fuel consumption, it is more convenient to get it directly by look-
ing at bills and estimating which equipment or sector is using more fuel.

Yearly rates:
Electricity per capita:
Electricity per square m:
Fuel per capita:
Fuel per square m:
Total Consumption:
..... MWh
ENERGY
consumption
........... kg CO
2
eq/m
2
........ t CO
2
eq
.......... t CO
2
eq/m
2
....... t CO
2
eq
..... kWh/m
2
..... kWh/person
..... kWh/m
2
.......... kgCO
2
eq/person
EMISSIONS
..... kWh/person
44
Energy Review (building inspection)
In the process of developing your energy management plan and accomplishing an Energy Audit
of your facilities, you should be aware of the many unseen and overlooked energy inefficiencies
which exist in your facilities which account for a significant amount of wasted energy. The ob-
jective of this further step is to detect the most common energy losses and discover where energy
can be conserved, by making an energy review of devices, equipment, building involvement
(windows and doors), and so on.
This should be performed in addition to the previous audit steps, as recommended, or alterna-
tively by skipping the second step (detailed checking) and going directly to this phase (a simpler
and quicker process).
The energy review on the next page provides an example to help you with your own schools
review based on the most common energy savings methods, mainly focusing on behavioural as-
pects to be implemented.
But dont forget that you can add to this list of items to be checked (the Excel Template is avail-
able electronically).

45

Degree of implementa-
tion

Basic Standards
N
o
t

i
m
p
l
e
m
e
n
t
e
d

S
t
a
r
t
i
n
g

I
m
p
l
e
m
e
n
t
a
t
i
o
n

I
m
p
l
e
m
e
n
t
i
n
g

E
x
t
e
n
s
i
v
e
l
y

I
m
p
l
e
m
e
n
t
i
n
g

Comments

Lights and Equipment
1 When adequate light is available from the sun or when rooms are
unoccupied, all lights are turned OFF.
X Somebody turns off
the lights, but it is
not a standard prac-
2 Are lights in passage places (i.e. corridors, toilet, etc.) turned off
when not in use?
X
3 Either computer monitors are turned OFF or computers are put into
sleep mode when not in use.
X Computer monitors
are often left on
when not in use,
while computers are
generally put into
sleep mode.
4 Computer peripherals such as printers, scanners, and other electronic
equipment are turned OFF when not in use.
X No.
5 All outside lights are turned off during daylight hours. X Not always; fre-
quently some lights
are kept on during
the day.
6 All outside lights are turned off at night. X No.
7 Portable heaters may only be used as a short-term emergency meas-
ure. Principals must authorise their use in these circumstances.
X Movement toward
eliminating portable
heaters has begun,
but some rooms still
have heating prob-
lems to be addressed.
8 Small bar refrigerators are prohibited unless there are compelling
reasons for their use in exceptional circumstances.
X Our school is very
spread out, making
sharing inconven-
9 Only the most energy efficient equipment is purchased (e.g. highest
efficiency Energy Label and Energy Star).
X Some equipment
(computers) is En-
ergy Star rated but
no conscious effort
has been made to
buy only energy
efficient machines.
10 An equipment consolidation programme is implemented to ensure
that energy is not wasted by using more equipment than is necessary
(e.g., by unplugging and/or removing unnecessary refrigerators and
reducing the number of computer printers through networking).
X No equipment con-
solidation plan has
been developed or
implemented.
11 Are there lighting control systems such as lighting power stabilisers
that depend on the sunlight (by using light sensors) or switch on
automatically when a space is occupied by someone (occupancy
motion sensors) or simply timers?
X Only the toilets are
equipped with a
timer switch.
12 A light cleaning programme is practised

X No, it is not a stan-
dard practice. Only
a few light bulbs are
cleaned as part of
general facility
cleaning activities.
13 Are walls and ceilings light enough in colour to reflect light well? X
14 Incandescent light bulbs have been removed and replaced with com-
pact fluorescent bulbs.
X Only in a few rooms
46
Table 4.3: Energy Audit Action Sheet

As mentioned above, this table includes only a limited list of items to be checked, and it is recom-
mended that it should be extended according to your schools own characteristics.

Step 3
Establishment of Goals and Objectives
First of all it is recommended that a goal for the programme as a whole and also partial objec-
tives for school segments or types of activities should be established. Remember, goals should be
specific, realistic, and achievable. Objectives become your roadmap to achieving each of the
goals. Below are some examples:

Heating and Cooling

1 Windows and curtains are closed at the end of the school
day.
X Some windows and curtains
are usually closed after
school, but not systemati-
cally. It depends on the care-
takers awareness.
2 Spaces around vents on walls or window sills are kept free of
obstruction.
X Some vents are blocked in
classrooms.
3
Doors to the outside of the building are not left open for
longer than necessary.
X Doors are left open longer
than necessary not only dur-
4
Internal gym doors are kept closed
X
5 Mechanical equipment for heating and cooling is checked
regularly and problems are reported promptly.
X Weekly inspection by head
caretaker. Staff and students
report problems promptly.
6 Are hot water taps free from drips? X Drips are promptly solved
7 Are the ceilings insulated? (ask the principal) X No, all facilities lack insula-
8 Are heating and cooling equipment (ducts, radiators, grilles)
free from curtains, furniture, blankets, and so on?
X Yes, this practice has been
widely implemented by care-
9 Are insulating drapes or other tight window treatments such
as framed shades in place?
X No, and no refurbishment is
planned in the short term.
10 Have all heating boilers been checked and are they well insu-
lated?
X Yes, boilers are new and
properly insulated
11 Exhaust fans are switched off if not needed (gym, toilets) X Some fans are left on all the
12 When it is hot in a room, windows are opened instead of
radiators being regulated by thermostat valves.

X

Not always; frequently win-
dows are open while radia-
tors are on.
13 Is there effective weather stripping on doors? X
General Awareness and Management
1 Have posters that promote energy saving been put up around
the school facilities (with messages such as Do not leave the
lights on, Close the door to avoid heat losses, and so on)?
X No, but it has been planned
as a future task
2 Is student participation promoted through workshops or X
3 Is there any kind of energy or environmental board com-
posed of students and teachers engaged in fostering best
practice in energy use?
X
... Other tems may be added as appropriate ...
47
The goals of the plan are:
a. To reduce energy consumption in the school facility by at least __% at the end of the set
period (in comparison with the previous years bills) and maintain the achieved level of
consumption for three years after attainment.
b. Alternatively, you can establish a baseline at the 20XX school year that can be used for the
purpose of comparison. Another option is to calculate the baseline by averaging the con-
sumption values of the last years.
Objectives are:
a. Replace at least __% of incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs by the first
quarter of the year.
b. Reduce the amount of time for which lights are switched on by __% in the whole school.
These objectives should by associated with the measures given in the Action Plan, as explained
in the following step.

Step 4
Identify Priorities and Develop the Energy Saving Action Plan
On the basis of the results of energy audits and inspections of the facility and systems, you
should have detected where energy can be saved so that you are able to identify priorities for ac-
tion and related objectives, which form the Energy Savings Action Plan.
In other words, it is time to draw up a list of measures your school can take to improve energy
efficiency and conservation and to get started with their execution.
The template below provides an example to help you with your schools action plan. (For further
information about energy actions and measures assessment, please see the Handbook on Build-
ing, Exercise, 6
th
step). (The Excel Template is available electronically)
Energy saving measures have to be inserted in the second column, Actions, as they have to be
built on the weaknesses detected during the inspection phase; it is recommended that the same
order as that used in the Energy Audit Data Sheet should be used, for instance by using the same
numbers for corresponding items.
The target should be given in the first column, stating what you need to improve.
The third column shows indicators of success, which are useful so that you will know when you
have achieved the targets.
The column headed Resources should contain estimations of how much each action will cost,
in terms of human, material, and financial resources.
The Timelines column makes a note of the start and end date of the action.
Finally the last column records the Results achieved after analysing the progress at a fixed
time point.
Remember, the plan is a living document. Through evaluation and measurement the plan will be
updated to reflect changing conditions and successes or failures.

48

49
Alternatively an easier method of drawing up an Energy Action Plan could be to build up a set of
measures/actions and binding them on a timeline, as in the example below. (the Excel Template
is available)
Energy Action Plan: Timeline

Figure 4.2: Action Plan timeline

Step 5
Implementation of the Action Plan
The Action Plan needs to be continuously implemented in order to achieve the uptake of the en-
ergy saving measures included.
Involving and emphasizing whole school community participation is one of the most important
actions to be taken to support the stated objectives.
Thus, first of all, the development of communication strategies is a key factor for encouraging
broad involvement (see the chapter on the Communication Plan).
Some implementation activities could be performed, some ideas are listed below:
Establish an energy management team drawn from all segments of the school community.
Adopt an energy awareness training programme and maintain it for all school employees
through periodic training.
Obtain and make available energy education materials for all teachers for incorporation
into their subject matter.
Adopt a set of high performance energy standards guidelines for use in the daily life of the
school facility, such as on the usage of computer rooms, classrooms, gymnasium, collec-
tive spaces, and so on.
Develop checklists for all segments of the school community (students, administrators,
educational personnel, and other staff) for use in daily energy conservation actions.
Launch a periodic award for energy efficiency, green standards, environmentally-friendly
behaviour, and so on.
50
Step 6
Monitor and Evaluate Progress
As a last step, a monitoring system should be worked out and agreed to keep a check on project
activities over a period of time.
It will help the Energy Team to have an updated overview of how things are going as well as
bottom-up knowledge of the state of execution of each measure.
According to the concept of the Energy Saving Plan as a circular or cyclical process, monitoring
and evaluating allows early warning to be given of possible problems and difficulties and conse-
quently for timely responses to be made to improve the plan.
It is very important that monitoring and evaluation of the method are kept simple and effective.
The monitoring system has to be based on the objectives, indicators, and timeline set out in the
Action Plan and should use some easy tools, for example according to the following suggestions:
Results observation (a diary)
Progress reports (including finance data if applicable)
Meetings
Evaluation of plan and measurement of success
Use of information
Results observation: a diary
The periodicity of results recording should be settled in the Action Plan (last column) and could
vary for each activity planned, depending on its type.
A helpful way of recording information daily or weekly would be to use a common notebook, or
a diary. Keeping a work diary will also help you also to take notes of qualitative information,
such as feelings, fleeting ideas, and so on.
Progress reports
These consist of a summary of the results periodically recorded. Reports have to be short and
show a clear record of what has been achieved, with a periodicity decided by the energy manage-
ment team (it is suggested that this is quarterly).
Below is an example of the results that could be easily added to the Energy Saving Action Plan
Template after the last column (the Excel Template is available electronically).

Progress Report Template
Frequency of reporting:
Date:
Realisation Results
Financial
Data
Evaluation
Expenditure
(EUR)
Comments
a) Pupils have been assigned
b)Posters and stickers have
been put up in all classrooms
Approximately 70% of lights
are off
100
The missing 30% is
caused by a restricted
group of students not
sufficiently involved
Control systems installation
This task has been recently
subcontracted - no results
yet
500
Starting date expected
by .......
Installation of weather
stripping is ongoing
10 doors out of 15 and 40
windows out of 75 habeen
sealed
350
End of action expected
in 1 month
................ ........................ ......... .....................
51
Meetings
Meetings are needed for putting together opinions and suggestions and for making a point.
Meetings could be used for:
a. communicating the interim results of the progress report (previously drawn up), checking
them, and launching proposals for improvements, or
editing the progress report by combining the efforts of all participants of the Energy Team;
The frequency of the meetings is decided by the energy team. It is suggested that a schedule not
longer than the progress report timeline should be observed.
Evaluation of plan and measurement of success
Each action or measure can be scored from 1 to 5 in order to obtain a clear framework of suc-
cesses, weakness, and failures.
Finally: use the information!
For monitoring to be a useful tool, the information that is collected must be used effectively in
all sorts of ways:
- Improving the timing of planned activities.
- Adjusting budgets and efforts.
- Improving future planning and decision making.
- Indicating where future work is necessary.
- Involving other school members to encourage cooperation.
- Informing the school community of progress and future plans.
The school community should be informed on a continual basis of the performance of the energy
management programme, what has been accomplished, who has accomplished it, and how mem-
bers of the community could take advantage of the action taken to reduce their own energy bills.
Use the information! (See the next chapter on the Communication Plan)

52
4 Communication Plan

All the teachers who have ever implemented energy checks with their pupils are very well aware
of the fact that such an undertaking requires a lot of work. If the energy team does not ensure its
public presence and does not inform the others at the school (as described in the previous chap-
ter) such work mostly remained unnoticed and is forgotten. It is vital to share the information
with the whole school community and beyond.
The following are the positive effects of broad public relations (PR) undertakings with regard to
such school activities:
- A perception of being important and recognised;
- Raising school recognition;
- A sense of youth activeness by the local community;
- Spreading examples of good practice to other schools;
- Establishing good relations with important people who can be our future supporters;
- Networking with other schools;
- Better access to potential sponsors and donors.
- Attracting new parents and students for the school
School activities can be promoted in many different ways:
- Organising an event for the local community;
- Press conference;
- Interview by the media (TV, radio, newspaper);
- Project web page;
- Leaflet, T-shirt, badges distribution.
Only the first item, namely the organisation of an event for the local community will be consid-
ered in the handbook. Usually, the organisation refers to the events lasting one day like school
day, energy day, public day, where all representatives of the local community are invited
and presented with our (latest) achievements.
Both internal and external public relations activities are worthwhile to make an energy plan
work. The energy team can carry out most of the external work as well as the internal public re-
lations in the school. Leaflets can be designed internally by students, food can be prepared, pho-
tos taken, etc. all by suitable students, as part of their work.
By combining their efforts, pupils and their teachers are able to implement large scale events
with relatively few financial resources.
Such events are generally of interest to the media, especially local media outlets. Media usually
do not pay much attention to experts giving detailed descriptions of one subject. On the con-
trary, young persons in action do attract their attention and are very newsworthy.

4.1 How to organise a successful event
In organising school events the following steps should be taken into consideration:

Step no. 1: Organisational team
The pupils who participated in the energy check of the school would be the most suitable to also
be involved in event planning. Pupils with organisational capabilities and media knowledge
should also be included.
53
Step no. 2: Planning an event
The theme of energy saving is a relatively serious topic and can be complex. Your research most
probably includes tables and graphs and detailed explanations. These can be very interesting for
experts and technical people who have an interest in this field.
However this kind of technical content can be very unattractive and dull for the wider public.
Think about how to make energy related matters more interesting and fun for people. The ex-
pression ecotainment has been recently developed with this in mind.
Some ideas about the organization of events according to the principles of ecotainment in-
clude:
- Make up a mascot of an event and prepare sketches
- Organise an energetic wandering around the school. Set up arrows, which the participants
of the event should follow and posters which represent different aspects of energy man-
agement in your school.
- Your school band can play eco music at the event.

Note: ''Ecotainment'' is a compound noun of ecology and ''entertainment''. Ecotain-
ment is teaching about ecology (and also about efficient energy use) in a fun way.
Case study
Energy Efficiency at Cleeve School, UK

Cleeve School signed up to the YEP! (Young Energy People!) Project in Sep-
tember 2008. Severn Wye Energy Agency delivered assemblies to Years 10
and 12 to recruit students to the School Energy Management Team (SEMT).
Interested students completed an application form and applied for a specific
job on the team ranging from Energy Advisors through to the Senior Project
Manager. The team began with fifteen students and faced a crisis when their
numbers dwindled to five. However, all was not lost and the five team mem-
bers pulled together and not only have they launched a superb energy effi-
ciency campaign in school but they have gained in numbers and now manage a
group of Year 7 Energy Spies.
The SEMT began by conducting an Energy Survey of the school and writing a
formal report explaining their findings and recommendations. The group pri-
oritised the recommendations and made no cost recommendations a priority.
Targets for energy reduction were set and an Energy Policy was written. The
group knew that getting the school to sign up to these changes would be a
challenge so they put a presentation together showing the savings the school
could make and simple ways they could reduce consumption. The group also
explained their own plans to reduce energy use to show that they were taking
steps themselves. The presentation was delivered to the Headteacher, the Site
Staff and a Governor Representative. A meeting followed the presentations to
discuss actions and the next steps. These decision makers were very impressed
by the attitude of the students, their understanding of the issues and ability to
make a difference and perhaps most importantly, the potential to save money!
54

The group also delivered a presentation to all of the staff, explaining their
plans and progress to date. They also provided tips to teachers for running an
energy efficient classroom. The students had developed plans to monitor en-
ergy use in all of the classrooms in the school and score each classroom and
department against efficiency criteria on a fortnightly spot check. This system
was explained to the staff who instantly became competitive to be the best per-
forming teacher or department.
The team realised that for their plans to be a success they would need to recruit
new students. It was decided that Year 7 would be the best year group as they
would be keen and could be trained to take lead in the project once the Y10s
and Y12s had left. The recruitment of Year 7 Spies began with an assembly to
Year 7. The team had written letters for interested students to take home which
has a positive impact on the project. The Year 7s were interviewed by the
SEMT and training was provided to the group so that they could conduct the
spying sessions for allocated classrooms. The SEMT have set up a simple
spreadsheet to store the information and are regularly feeding back to staff and
students on the scores. Awards will also be presented to the best teachers and
departments.
Implementing this process early on in the Energy Campaign has raised the pro-
file of Energy Efficiency within the whole school as all of the students are
keen to pester the teachers about the energy use and the staff are keen to com-
pete with other departments. The fact that the group involved the staff in the
early stages and that the group gave practical hints and operated in a profes-
sional manner contributed to their success and the newly recruited Year 7s are
becoming even more involved in activities.
The group meet weekly and although they have support from a member of
staff, they have taken responsibility for the project themselves. Whilst this in-
dependence is hard work, it also gives the students freedom and they reap the
rewards. One member of the team is also responsible for collecting meter read-
ings each month and adding these to an Energy Diary to monitor the amount of
energy used, the cost and the carbon dioxide emissions. This allows the group
and school to track their progress.
Case study
Agents of low-carbon society

The Slovenian E-forum began a project Zero CO2: Agents
of low-carbon society in March 2009 and invited 10 high
schools from all over Slovenia to participate.
The purpose of the project was to train a small group of students from each
school to organise campaigns for a low-carbon society.
The project started with a 5-day camp training for agents,. Students were
divided into three groups.
The first group learned how to set up a small photovoltaic power station, how
to connect it to a supply system with loudspeakers, how to play solar music
(electricity, generated from a solar power station which feeds the music),
and how to present this system to people (parents, local people and also kids).
55
Step no. 3: Distributing tasks
Common tasks relating to the organisation of the events and which can be distributed to the team
are as follows:
- Promotional responsibility
- Text preparation
- Graphic design
- Event management
- Photography and video
- Technical tasks (computers etc.)

Step no. 4: Preparing Budget
The budget of the event should be as simple as possible. Try to get as many things as possible
free of charge. Use the equipment available at the school, pupils capabilities and the social net-
works of their parents.

Step no. 5: Informing the public
A decision should be made on who (which kind of audience) to invite to the event and the way
they should be invited.
The invitation to the event should contain information about the organiser, the event itself (which
type of event, meeting ...), the place and timing of the event. The invitation should be published
in a daily newspaper, at the advertisement desks leaflets, posters, at the radio, TV etc.).
Parents can be informed on the event by designing small invitation letters (A5 format) which are
distributed to them by their children. The invitation should be published in plenty of time.
Informing the media requires special attention.

Step no. 6: The place and date of the event
The place and the timing of the event are dependent upon the nature of the event itself and the
type of the audience to be invited. If only parents are invited, it could coincide with parent
The second group dealt with the media. They got to know the types of media,
which they can inform about their campaign (newspapers, television, radio,
internet, facebook, blogs, etc.), and created a list of local media and sent them
an invitation to the final event of the camp.
The third group (designers) created a scenario for the final event and formed
the whole range of promotional material (pamphlets, posters and invitations to
the event).
Each group also learned the importance of group work and how to achieve
good team results.
The final event was organized with the intention of showing the students in a
practical way how to organise this kind of event.
The students will then organize similar events in their own schools when they
return from the camp. They have already designed the scenario of events at the
camp and divided roles. There is a competition among the schools to find out
the most successful event.
56
teacher meetings or some other event where parents will attend.
Similar considerations shall be taken when organising an event for the whole community. An
event can compliment or coincide with fairs, festivals, parties, concerts etc. or can be planned on
a Saturday either at the school or some other suitable venue that is accessible.

Step no. 7: The plan of the event
A detailed plan of the event should be set up prior to the event itself. A good plan contains de-
tails of the timing, the content, details of the performers, and the necessary equipment needed.
When planning the timing some additional time shall be allocated in case of delays.
If an outdoor event is planned a plan B should be prepared in case of unpleasant weather. A
rain check is always an option in case of bad weather. Implementing the event inside the build-
ing or in a covered place (roof, tent) represents another option available and the consequences of
this change should be considered in advance.

Step no. 8: VIP
Consideration should be given whether or not to invite well known people. There are advantages
and disadvantages to this, and the method of invitation is important. VIPs will require sufficient
time as they have busy schedules. Their involvement should be ensured before the promotional
literature is distributed.

Step no. 9: Legal Authorisation/Planning
Very large events, such as concerts, may require planning permission. For large numbers of at-
tendees, the local Garda/Police should be informed in case there are traffic implications.

Step no. 10: Equipment
If special equipment is required and the school cannot provide it, this needs to be acquired in ad-
vance. Generally the school should have everything needed but it must be booked in advance and
checked that it works.

Step no. 11: Other Materials
All the necessary materials should be prepared in advance. (Take a look at the Chapter Do pre-
sent your work). All promotional materials included should have a uniform graphic design and
all the necessary logos and graphics should be included. This material can be prepared by senior
students with graphic capabilities within the school.

Step no. 12: A list of potential negative happenings
Several problems encountered at the events organised by schools can be listed:
- Technical malfunctions;
- An important speaker cancels or is delayed;
- Sudden weather disturbances;
- A member of the team does not perform his/her duties;
- The size of the audience is extremely low.
Most of above mentioned problems can be foreseen and can be properly addressed in advance. A
person in charge of solving such difficulties should be appointed in advance.

57
In all unpleasant situations a calm attitude is recommended (Do not panic!). Figuring out the rea-
sons for the failure and whoever is responsible should take place after the event itself. (Take a
look at the next step the assessment).

Step no. 13: The assessment of the event
The successful organisation of school events (outside of the official curriculum) does not only
have positive effects on the school and the local community but is also a big shot in the arm
for the energy team. All members of the team can learn a lot by implementing such activities.
Organising a meeting one week after the event in order to discuss what went right and what went
wrong is recommended.
The assessment is not a criticism or a reproach. It represents an opportunity to tell each other
what was well done and what could be done better.
Improvements can be decided for future events.

Step no. 14: Thank you letters
Thank you letters should be sent to all persons who have contributed to organisers success.

Step no. 15: Upgrade your CV
By organising the events pupils gain additional (informal) knowledge and experiences which
should be included in their CVs and can help them at third level education or in the job market.

4.2 Presenting the work done
The energy check is an extensive investigation aiming to reveal concrete data relating to the
school building. Such data can be of significant importance for the school principal, board of
management, school staff et alia. and it is very important that all the information found and the
plans in place are well presented in suitable formats.
Journalists could find such reports interesting too, especially in case they want to publish a
longer article on the energy situation and the activities performed in parallel at the school. But,
while the media may want to know about such matters, the technical details will not be of such
interest to them and the method or reporting or presenting information to the media may be dif-
ferent.
For a broader audience, short presentations on the schools work and its achievements with re-
gard to energy management are more suitable. A short brochure of A4 size is an effective and
cheap way to present such work. It can be multi-coloured, two-coloured or single-coloured.

What should an informative short brochure include?
Page 1:
- Name, address and logo of the school;
- Project full name and acronym (if such exists);
- Photo of the school or of the pupils at work;
- A brief description of the project itself (50 words).
Page2:
- A presentation of the energy team (pictures of the pupils and their teachers, their
names, a brief description);
- A short presentation on climate change;
- A statement by an important or widely known person on climate change or the rational
use of energy;
58
Page 3:
- The results of the energy check (approx. 150 words, charts, tables);
- Photo with subtitles (approx. 10 words).
Page 4:
- Future plans for energy saving activities at school (a title and 80 words);
- Call for action, how people can help you (a list of activities that can be done by peo-
ple);
- Your address, phone number for potential questions;
- Web link;

A list of few things that can be omitted while designing a brochure:
- The text should not be boring. People should gladly take the brochure and really read it;
- Only important and relevant information should be included;
- Do not generalise; only the facts and examples (case studies) should be included;
- Design is important, it can be simple but it should be clear and effective
- Printing on expensive or very glossy paper is also not recommended. Printing on an envi-
ronmentally friendly paper is a better option.

4.3 Media treatment
The positive effect of the schools work can be increased by media coverage (an article in a
newspaper, an interview on the radio, a TV slot etc.). However, serious consideration ought to be
taken about the fact that journalists receive a huge quantity of information on a daily basis. They
must be persuaded that our event is worth publishing.
The content of media contributions must be accompanied with interesting photos. School events
where the activities of young people are revealed can be very appealing to journalists. Media at-
tention can be increased by the invitation of a VIP.

Media Addresses
Having a list of media contact details and addresses is strongly recommended. The organiser
needs the following information: the name of the journalist and the media he/she works for, his/
her e-mail, telephone and fax number.
A good list of media contact details takes time to accumulate. New media contacts and their up-
dating must be regularly implemented. If we do not possess a list of media addresses, we can ask
our friends or colleagues. Local media are far more likely to be interested than national media.

Media invitation
Journalists should be invited by media invitation which can be sent by e-mail. In the title of the
e-mail message the event is announced. In the text itself a brief summary of the event is written.
Further details can be in an attachment.
Note: Media invitation should be send at least three days before the event. One day be-
fore the event a phone call can be made in order to check whether a journalist will be
present or not.
59

It is a good idea to have somebody not involved in the work proof read any literature or informa-
tion to be published. They will see gaps or unexplained materials that those involved may miss.

Guiding the journalists at the event
Pupils appointed for PR activities should deal with the journalists coming to the event. The jour-
nalists should be guided around and what is going on explained to them. They should fill in list
of the participants. They should be given a portfolio containing the press release, project bro-
chure, project report, a school brochure etc.

Press Release
Pupils appointed for PR activities should be instructed on potential questions from the media,
including also some difficult or controversial topics that may arise. They should be made avail-
able for answering questions posed by media. Public statements to be made by the school princi-
pal, chairman of the board, local mayor et al. should also be prepared in advance.

Collecting articles, TV broadcastings about the event (Clipping)
The event organisers should monitor media coverage after the event.. Special attention shall be
paid to monthly magazines which may come out some time later. Media announcements repre-
sent a measure of our media presence. They can reveal which topics covered by the event were
the most prominent in the eyes of journalists, and which would have the largest public impact. If
a project website has been set up, it should be updated by the organisers latest contributions thus
increasing school and energy team public presence. Good media coverage should also be men-
tioned in the news section of the website.

Updating media contact list
The media contact list should be updated after the event, noting those journalists who attended
and who had most interest in the schools activities.

Note: Ten Commandments for Media invitation:
1. The length of the invitation should not exceed one page (1500 characters);
2. It should have an attractive title;
3. The key part of the message should be written in the first paragraph: what, who,
where, when, why;
4. The contact person should be noted (his/her name, telephone, e-mail);
5. The message shall be written on the school official template;
6. The text should be as simple as possible with short sentences (max. 15 words);
7. Specify when there will be a good photo opportunity;
8. Energy jargon should be avoided;
9. Abbreviations should be explained at the beginning (when such an abbreviation is
first used);
10. A web site should be already set up in order to describe the activities, their pur-
pose and the school team;
60
Example of a press release
logo of the school

Such and such school Tel: 000 000000
Some street Fax: 111 111111
Some town E-mail: info@suchandsuch.ie
Some county Web: www.suchandsuch.ie

Contact person: Mega Watt mega.watt@suchandsuch.ie (080 001122)
Date: 00/00/0000 For immediate publication
SOLAR SHOW
Students of the Such and such school are preparing a solar show for this year's Car Free Day on
22 September 2009. The purpose of this event is to warn about climate change and to show how
we all can make a difference. The students will demonstrate the activity of a small photovoltaic
power station one of the ways for using renewable energy sources.
The Transition Year students organising this event attended the training for agents of low-
carbon society in July, which was organized by the Low Carbon Group. Forty-eight students
from eight secondary schools attended the camp where they learned how to set up and run solar
power stations.
The event will take place in the main car park of the Such and such school and will begin
sharply at 13.00 and will end at 15.00. The event will be launched by the Minister of Education:
Mr. Learn Alot. Students will then present the activity of a small photovoltaic power station to
the participants and the school band, called the Solar Flares, will perform their new hit I love
the Sun, I hate pollution, on instruments and speakers, with electricity generated from the solar
power station. Music will begin at 13.30, followed by some snacks prepared by the home eco-
nomics students of the school.
Additional information at www.suchandsuch.ie/greenpower
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4.4 Final preparation for the event

It is recommended that final preparation of the event takes place one or two days before the
event itself. The energy team should go through the plan and carefully assess all planned activi-
ties. The following control list could be helpful:
All tasks already completed should be ticked. The list can be extended at anytime.

Checklist

Task apportion
Is everybody familiar with our tasks?
Is everything that we need at our disposal in order to implement our task?
Journalists
Did we call the journalists asking them whether they will participate in the event?
Are enough supplementary materials for the journalists prepared?
Is a list of participants available?
Are those in charge of PR activities ready for questions?
Techniques and Logistics
Are contact persons able to explain simply the school location and the way to come?
Are electric and electronic devices all available and working?
Are signs/directions up inside and outside the school?
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