This sheet will guide you through the process of preparing an energy audit for your school. Try to complete each section as fully as possible. You should have already chosen two renewable energy auditors to lead your school through the process.
You will need to ask one of your teachers to help you to carry out the survey. You may also need to speak to your caretaker to find out about some of the features of the school. You will also need a plan of your school.
Equipment you will need:
Map compass (to find which direction is North) and a compass for drawing circles, a camera (if you have one), pens, clipboard, 1:50 000 map and internet access
2 SCHOOL DETAILS
2.1 School Name:____________________________________ 2.2 Address:__________________________________ _____________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________2.3 Post code: ________ 2.4 Telephone No.:_________________
2.5 Fax: ______________ 2.6 Web Address: _________________ 2.7 Name of renewable energy auditors
1. __________________________________ 2. __________________________________
2.8 Name of contact teacher ____________________________ 2.9 Position: _________________________________________ 2.10 Have you completed the Eco Schools or EST Schools programmes (please tick)
3 SCHOOL
DETAILS
3.1 Approximate number of students at your school _____________ 3.2 School opening hours _________________________________
4 ENERGY SUPPLY
Ask your caretaker or teacher to help you complete the following questions – tick the boxes as appropriate
YES NO 4.1 Does your school have a mains electricity supply?
4.2 Does your school have a mains gas supply?
4.3 If not, how is your school heated?
4.3.1 Oil
4.3.2 Coal 4.3.3 Gas tank (Propane) 4.3.4 Bottled gas (Butane) 4.3.5 Wood 4.3.6 Electricity
Other (please describe)
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________
5 QUANTITY OF ENERGY USED
Your caretaker may be able to help you complete this section. Otherwise ask your teacher to contact the energy manager at the Council.
5.1 How to work out the energy your school uses per year
5.1.1 Units of electricity (kWh)________ Cost per unit_______ p 5.1.2 How much is the electricity bill per year?______________ 5.1.3 Units of gas used (or amount of other fuel)_____________
5.1.4 How much is the gas bill per year?_________________ 5.1.5 What does you school pay per year for other fuels?
(describe fuel and state cost) ___________________________ 5.1.6 What is the total annual energy bill for your school? _______
6.1 Use a 1:50 000 map to find the Grid reference for your school: (this will be used later) __________________ e.g. NY 234456 6.2 Use a compass to find out the direction that the front of your
school faces (mark this on your plan) __________________ 6.3 How far away is the school from:
6.3.1 Houses ________________________________(e.g.50m) 6.3.2 Other buildings _________________________________ 6.3.3 Trees ________________________________________ 6.4 What type of area is your school in:
6.4.1 Near the middle of town (urban) 6.4.2 On the edge of town (suburban)
6.4.3 In the countryside (rural)
6.4.4 Near the sea (coastal)
6.5 Find the wind speed data for your site (ask your teacher to help) 6.5.1 Go to
http://www4.dti.gov.uk/energy/renewables/technologies/windspeed/
6.5.2 Click on the link labelled “ 1.Interactive on-line link” 6.5.3 On the next page make sure you select Great Britain 6.5.4 Enter the OS grid number you found in Section 6.1 e.g NY 234456 would be entered as NY2345
6.5.5 You will find the windspeed that you need highlighted in yellow. Make sure you choose the measurement taken at 45 m above the ground
7 DRAW A ROUGH PLAN OF YOUR SCHOOL
Use the plan to record you findings and ideas as you carry out your audit – don’t forget to mark which direction is North on your plan
8.1 Is there space for a wind turbine in the grounds of your school? (Clue you should allow a for a circle of 200m radius) Use a compass to mark this on your plan
If NO then go to section 9
8.2 Is the windspeed at your school equal to or greater than 6.5m/s? If NO then the site is not windy enough so wind power could not be used – go to section 9
If YES record it here __________ and continue with section 8 8.3 Are there any buildings or trees that might shelter the site?
If NO then continue with section 8
If YES mark them on your plan and continue with section 8
8.4 Are there any houses within 400m or power lines within 100m of the site?
If NO then mark a wind turbine on your plan as a possible option If YES mark them on the plan. Houses and power lines may prevent you from having a wind turbine at your school
8.5 Write down any conclusions about wind power for your school
_______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ 200m
9 POTENTIAL FOR USING SOLAR ENERGY
9.1 Does your school have an area of sloping roof? ___________
If NO then your school cannot use solar energy – go to section 10
If YES calculate the approximate area of the roof __________m2
9.2 Does the roof face South, Southeast or Southwest? ____________ If NO then you probably won’t be able to use solar energy at your school – go to section 10
If YES continue
9.3 Are there any trees or buildings close to your school which shade the roof of your school (if so mark and label these on your plan)?
If NO then solar panels could be used at your school
If YES the shading may prevent using solar panels for working efficiently so mark them on your plan
9.4 Hot water is needed in kitchens, changing rooms and toilets. Colour these areas clearly on your plan
9.5 You need to find out whether solar hot water or solar electricity (or both) would be best for your school
9.5.1 Each time you wash your hands you use around 3 litres of water, and a 5 minute shower uses around 40 litres. Estimate how much hot water your school uses each day (Hint – how many pupils are in your school and what are they doing). How much do you estimate?___________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ 9.5.2 In section 5 you recorded how much electricity your school uses how does this compare with the amount of hot water you use. Have a discussion with your classmates about whether solar hot water or PV would be more useful for your school. Explain your reasons below and write them on the
plan_______________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________
your school _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________
10 POTENTIAL FOR BIOMASS
10.1 Does your school have electric heating? _________________ If YES it is probably not worth considering biomass as your school would need a whole new heating system. This would be probably be too expensive – go to section 11
If NO then continue with section 10
10.2 How old is the boiler in your school? ______________years If it is 10-15 years old then continue with this section If it is less than 10 years old then it will probably not need replacing for a while so you should not consider biomass – go to section 11
10.3 Using what you know about biomass think about sources of biomass that could be found near your school and list them below – examples of these sources could be local forests or woodland, or recycling centres where waste wood is collected
_______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ 10.4 Are there any buildings at your school where biomass fuel could be stored? (Describe and mark on your plan) _______________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ 10.5 Note down any conclusions you have made about using biomass at your school _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________
11.1 Is there a stream or river flowing near the school? If YES mark it on your plan
If there is no flowing water near your school then you cannot consider hydro power – go to section 12
11.2 Who owns the land it flows through? ________________________ _______________________________________________________ 11.3 Roughly how near is it to the school?_______________________m 11.4 Roughly how wide is the stream or river? ___________________m Mark this information on the plan
11.5 Note down any conclusions you have made about hydro in your school _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________
12 CONCLUSIONS
12.1 Look at your plan. Which renewable energy technologies are the best to use at your school, give some reasons for your choices
____________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ 12.2 What problems do you think there might be in using these types of renewable energy in your school (clue: think about what types of energy the school needs, where it will be used, and when it is needed)
_______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ 12.3 Use the information from your sketch map to make a poster showing how renewable energy could be used at your school (perhaps you could use Powerpoint).