With the aging of the existing post-primary school building stock (new schools/deep retro-fits can take years from planning to completion) there is a need for low-cost solutions that enable long-term resource efficiency in schools & reduced greenhouse gas emission (GHG). EU building energy directives & climate actions to 2020 & 2030 underpin this necessity.
ENERGE addresses this need using targeted physical interventions that combine a web based platform & building sensors (e.g. electrical, thermal etc) with behavioural studies & new educational approaches that enable schools engage in energy & GHG mitigation. This holistic, adaptable & multidisciplinary approach will combine sociological, pedagogic & communications expertise with low cost technology, ICT interventions & systems engineering.
ENERGE is demonstrated in schools in France, Germany, Luxembourg, Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Netherlands. ENERGE aims at reducing the energy consumption at 13 demonstration site schools over the project period . It engages and enables management, teachers, students and maintenance staff (entire school ecosystem) to reduce energy consumption by developing a new web-based platform tailored to different stakeholder within the school ecosystem. Long-term impacts will be consolidated by the development of additional and revised educational material to supplement existing school curricula (for students aged 12-18 i.e. formative years).
ENERGE will track the effects of project initiatives in the school environment and with individual students to monitor how interventions in school can have wider impacts in terms of students’ attitudes and behaviours. ENERGE committees are established in the demonstration schools to provide a focus for transnational engagement of the project schools, long-term studies of the project impact and to enable the whole school community to engage with & sustain energy efficiency & GHG mitigation practices.
ENERGE project partners are also supported by an Advisory Board made up of external partners in industry and government agencies from Ireland, Northern Ireland, Luxembourg and France, who provide advice on the project, including post-project exploitation. ENERGE will contribute to regional, national and transnational policy and exploitation strategies to help roll-out project results across the education and wider public sector.
The ENERGE Business Community brings together professionals in secondary education, energy service providers and policy makers who have a drive to make our schools in North-West Europe climate neutral in a viable manner. The community will meet, discuss and exchange experiences, ideas and best practices during project workshops and events and continue the discussion on-line in our LinkedIn group.
9 rue St Pierre Lentin – CS 94117
Orléans cedex 1
45041
France
1 Stevinweg
Delft
2628 CN
Netherlands
CASTeL, School of Physical Sciences Dublin City University, Collins Avenue, Glasnevin
Dublin
Dublin 9
Ireland
162a Avenue de la Faïencerie
Luxembourg
L-1511
Luxembourg
74 Holland Park
London
W113SL
United Kingdom
3-15 quai Panhard et Levassor
PARIS
75013
France
Gebäude C, Raum 306
Alice Perry Engineering Building National University of Ireland
Galway
H91 HX31
Ireland
Lead partner
| Organisation | Address | Website | |
|---|---|---|---|
| National University of Ireland Galway |
Alice Perry Engineering Building National University of Ireland Galway H91 HX31 Ireland |
eoghan.clifford@nuigalway.ie | www.nuigalway.ie |
| Name | Contact Name | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centre-Val de Loire Region | Yann Baduel | yann.baduel@centrevaldeloire.fr | France |
| Delft University of Technology | Natalia Romero Herrera | n.a.romero@tudelft.nl | Netherlands |
| CASTeL Dublin City University | Eilish McLoughlin | eilish.mcloughlin@dcu.ie | Ireland |
| University of Luxembourg | Stefan Maas | stefan.maas@uni.lu | Luxembourg |
| R2M Solution LTD | Sander Smit | sander.smit@r2msolution.com | United Kingdom |
| LAVUE-CNRS | Nadine Roudil | nadine.roudil@paris-valdeseine.archi.fr | France |
| Hochschule Trier - Trier University of Applied Sciences | Thorsten Hoos | t.hoos@hochschule-trier.de | Germany |
Site Schools
ENERGE will improve recognition among the whole school population of the issues (climate, societal, economic, environmental) associated with excessive GHG emissions. The project also seeks to question and understand the acceptance of that high energy consumption and by extension GHG emissions from schools.
The ENERGE project is supported by the following European partners:
The National University of Ireland Galway, University of Luxembourg, Delft University of Technology, CASTeL Dublin City University, Trier University of Applied Sciences, Energy Agency Region of Trier, R2M Solution LTD, Centre-Val-de-Loire Region.
This cooperation currently allows 13 demonstration site schools to be taking an active part in GHG emissions reduction. Together, we aim to engage and enable management, teachers, students and maintenance staff (entire school ecosystem) to reduce the global energy consumption of each of those sites.
Max-Plank-Gymnasium Trier is located in the heart of the city, close to the train station and the Cathedral of Trier. It occupies a mixture of old (+100 years) and new buildings. The school has 1027 students and 93 teachers and 5 staff. The students are generally 10 years old in first year and 18-19 years old when they complete their final state examination and leave the school. The school was awarded the MINT-EC certificate for special achievements in mathematics, science and technology that has been valid nationwide since summer 2014.
Berufsbildende Schule Prüm is located in a rural area on the edge of the supervisory district of Trier, close to the German-speaking community of Belgium and Luxembourg. It consists of 3 buildings from different time periods (1954, 1966 and 1974). Approximately 950 students, generally from 15-21 years old, are currently enrolled in technical, methodological, social and personal areas, either full-time or part-time. There are 72 teachers and 3 support staff at the school.
Seamount College is located in the coastal town of Kinvara approximately 30km south of Ireland Galway. It occupies a mixture of old (1830, 1900 and 1930-60) and new buildings (prefabricated). The school has 490 students, generally aged from 12-18 years old, and 37 staff. After their first 3 years, students can follow an optional year called Transition Year. Seamount College follows the Department of Education & Science, Ireland, courses leading to Junior Cycle Assessment and Leaving Certificate.
Coláiste Éinde is located in the Salthill area of Galway City less than 1km from the popular Salthill promenade. It occupies buildings from 1928 (when the school first opened) and 1937. The school has 780 students, generally aged from 12-18 years old, and 80 staff. After their first 3 years, students can follow an optional year called Transition Year.
Gaudier-Brzeska is a Post-Primary and Vocational School, located in Saint-Jean de Braye, a few kilometers away from Orléans. The buildings it occupies were built in 1953. The school has 900 students, 110 teachers, and 35 management staff. It offers education for building trades, public works and surveyor, which includes new technologies, studies and economics of buildings, and energy management.
EPLEFPA Le Subdray is an Agricultural Post primary School which includes a Lycée, an apprentice training center, a center of adult professional training and a farm. The building it occupies were built in 2009, a few kilometers away from the city of Bourges. The school has 640 students, and carries out activities to raise awareness of sustainable development.
The OSG Hugo de Groot is a public secondary school for secondary education in the Charlois district of Rotterdam South. It is currently housed in a building built in the period 1948 -1955, and another one opened in 1999. The School has 624 students and 221 staff (including 164 teachers). It has the ambition to become the best and safest school in Rotterdam. Its final goal is to provide education from toddler to young adult.
The Gymnasium Haganum is one of the oldest public schools in the Netherlands, located in the city of The Hague. First mentioned in 1327, the school is currently housed in a monu- mental Renaissance Revival architecture building, built in 1907. It has around 700 students. The school has a vision to offer their students a broad educa- tion at a high level and with that an excellent preparation for a study at a university.
The LTC is located with two annexes in the centre of the capital, Luxembourg City and is also the largest school in the city. The most important part of the school is located in Limpersberg. The school has approximately 3600 students and apprentices from all over the world in more than 250 classes and supervised by some 340 teachers.
The school is located in Ettelbruck north of Luxembourg city. It offers many programs of study for more than 1400 students from different regions, including social sciences, natural sciences, economics and management, and professional programs .
The school will observe the progress of ENERGE and would like to form one of the sites that might uptake projects results.
St Mark’s High School (Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland)
St Mark’s High School is a Roman Catholic co-education secondary school situated just outside Warrenpoint, County Down. It is a vibrant, post-primary school that was constructed in 1970. The school has 876 students, generally aged from 11-18 years old, and 85 staff.
Cookstown High School (Cookstown, Northern Ireland)
Cookstown High School in Co. Tyrone, is a post-primary school that was constructed in 1954. The school has 796 students, generally aged from 11-18 years old, and 65 staff. Cookstown High School, is a combined grammar and secondary school, affording individual children the opportunity for a specifically tailored education. Pupils who are academically able are placed in a grammar stream through to A level and pupils who are vocationally skilled also follow a tailored pathway.
Project Partners
The ENERGE project is supported by the following European partners and sub-partners:
The University was established in 1845 in Galway. It has advanced knowledge teaching and learning, through research and innovation, recognised through its consistent rise in international rankings. With an extensive network of industry, community and academic collaborators, NUI Galway researchers are tackling some of the most pressing issues of our times. As Lead Partner of ENERGE, NUI Galway coordinates all activities to ensure the project on-time. It also coordinates the installation of equipment in pilots and the development of intervention strategies and behavioural and awareness studies for pilot sites as well as project impact analysis. NUI manages the Irish sites school demonstration. NUI Galway have extensive experience in large scale international research projects with multidisciplinary teams and complex pilot sites, as well as an expertise in the installation of building sensors and the development of interactive platforms for buildings.
Powerpoint Engineering are expert electrical engineers designing, supplying and installing bespoke Energy Metering Systems to meet customers specific requirements. Powerpoint will assess the Energy Monitoring needs of each demo site school and determine the most appropriate power quality & energy monitoring equipment. In addition to design and instalation, Powerpoint will provide support of systems and results analysis for both Continuous Energy and Power Quality Monitoring.
Galway City Council is a Local Authority and is responsible for the provision and maintenance of key services in the Galway City urban area where an Irish demonstration site school is located. GCC will work to ensure the project achieves (i) long term impacts in schools and (ii) long term impacts in the wider community and through linkages within the European City of Culture 2020 organisation. Galway City Council will also link with pilot schools and also with schools outside of the pilot studies. To ensure a wide dissemination of impacts Galway City Council will promote project results and impacts to elected representatives to the council (local and national level politicians) to maximise future opportunities for schools to engage with the outputs from ENERGE.
As regional authority, the Centre-Val de Loire Region (CVL) handles regional policies: regional planning and infrastructures, economic development, ESIF management, professional and vocational training etc. ENERGE is entirely consistent with CVL energy policies and post-primary schools’ responsibility, including building, maintenance and organisation. In ENERGE, CVL is involved in 3 implementation WPs, and is the liaison with the 2 regional demonstration schools, Le Subdray and Gaudier-Brzeska. CVL will also play a major part in the set-up of student energy committees, aiming at facilitating the participative process and implementation. Moreover, as ENERGE Communication WP Leader, CVL brings its experience as regional authority communicating daily to various stakeholders through adequate communication tools.
Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) is the oldest, largest and most comprehensive University of Technology in The Netherlands. The Faculty of ndustrial Design Engineering (IDE) at TU Delft is one of the largest and most influential design research institutes in the world. The Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment has a leading role in the area of architecture education and research in the broadest sense. Betasteunpunt Zuid-Holland at SEC improves Beta education by inspiring teachers. In ENERGE, TU Delft leads the activities related to Software Platform and Software Development, and will be responsible for involving students, teachers and managers in defining low-cost energy strategies and comfort controls. TU Delft will develop co-design sessions for each region that will allow the development and refinement of the ENERGE platform and associated software to engage the post-primary school eco-system in responsible energy usage and comfort management.
OfficeVitae has developed a range of sensors for the measurement of indoor of climate and comfort levels. OfficeVitae will work to develop a metering strategy for the demonstration site locations, this will include optimal data storage and transfer solutions, acceptable data formats, frequency of readings, interpretation of results. OfficeVitae will provide specialist sensor equipment to the project as well as expertise in the collection and interpretation of resultant data and type. OfficeVitae will also contribute to dissemination activities.
Dublin City University’s CASTeL (Centre for Advancement of STEM Teaching and Learning) is part of a young, dynamic and ambitiously focused university which is ranked among the top 50 Universities worldwide (QS World Top 50 under 50 2013/2014). In ENERGE, CASTeL DCU will lead the school curricula review to baseline the existing treatment of Energy responsibility in post-primary schools. Based on the results of the studies and undertakings of ENERGE, CASTeL will provide and develop pedagogic support tools for schools to ensure that responsible energy usage is reinforced by revised curricula. In addition, it will ensure that teachers are supported in effective approaches to teaching, learning of energy and sustainability though their professional development.
University of Luxembourg (UL) provides high-quality study programs and research projects. The Faculty of Sciences & Technology participates in multiple EU projects including 5 INTERREG projects. In ENERGE, UL manages demonstration site schools in Luxembourg. UL will also bring extensive experience in several past research projects focusing on building energy usage. UL will provide technical guidance and assessment to categorize the existing stock. Here especially the school buildings are of interest, depending for example, on age or year of construction, type of construction from older buildings to new passive buildings with different HVAC techniques. This assessment is essential to best devise a truly adaptable strategy with transnational application as required by the project.
R2M Solution is an integrated and multi-disciplinary entrepreneurial innovation company that aggressively targets filling the gap between research activities and market implementation across the fields of Innovation, Engineering, Energy, and ICT/Automation. In the ENERGE project, R2M Solution leads exploitation and market replication activities. It will be responsible for the market analysis and the development of the ENERGE business plan and exploitation plan, involving direct and indirect stakeholders, ensuring goals on long term effects are met. The R2M team has extensive experience with business model design and market replication in European projects in, amongst others, the energy, construction and sustainability domain. R2M will disseminate the activities and results to energy, construction and building owner communities and events like the Sustainable Places conference.
The CRH is one of the 7 components of the Architecture, City, Town Planning and Environment Laboratory (LAVUE) and one of the joint research units of the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). Based at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture Paris-Val des Seine, the CRH-LAVUE team gathers 16 professor-researchers, 16 associate researchers and 41 doctoral students. Their work mainly concerns the production and management of the built environment, the social qualification of urban spaces as well as issues specific to urban public spaces.
The CRH will be in charge of the sociological part of the ENERGE project.
The ECE is a general engineering school in digital technologies, trains innovative engineers in the fields of energy and the environment, health, on-board systems in aeronautics and automobiles, cybersecurity, big data, connected objects and quantitative finance. The ECE is empowered to issue the ECE engineering diploma.
The EEC is project sub-partner of the CHR and will be involved in the technical part of ENERGE.
With around 7,000 students, Trier University of Applied Sciences is one of the largest universities for applied sciences in Rhineland-Palatinate, centrally located in Europe on the borders to Luxembourg, Belgium and France. The three campuses with their specific characteristics shape the profile of Trier University of Applied Sciences and offer individual opportunities. The wide variety of subjects with a total of 85 courses of study at the main campus, the Campus for Design and Art and the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld is unique in the region. A strong application and practice orientation, innovative forms of teaching as well as the intensive combination of teaching and research characterize Trier University of Applied Sciences.
Trier University of Applied Sciences has been able to achieve and consolidate its position as the university of applied sciences with the highest level of third-party funding in Rhineland-Palatinate. In doing so, it distinguishes itself in particular through three sustainable research priorities: "Applied Material Flow Management", "Intelligent Technologies for Sustainable Development" and "Life Sciences: Medical, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology".
The Trier University of Applied Sciences will manage ENERGE demonstration site schools in the Trier Region and will act as local liaison to the schools. The Trier University of Applied Sciences will provide the assessment and validation of innovations for compatibility and integration with regional and national policy.
ENERGE preparing for Sustainable Places 2021 conference Just like last year, ENERGE is preparing a joint workshop for the sustainable Places conference 2021 (SP2021) to share knowledge, ideas and experiences with fellow projects. The topic of the workshop will be energy citizenship. Read More
The last biannual Consortium Meeting went again online. The meeting was hold on May 28th 2021 and all Project Partners were present. The agenda planned general discussions and workshops. Many topics were discussed about : communication activities, ENERGE committees in schools, technical aspect and methodology, energy teaching and learning, This meeting also enabled to test the slido system to know the partners feeling about the current key issues. Great to see the team and to hear about the project activities. Hope the next biannual meeting will be hold in one project country. Read More
The French local ENERGE committees - Gaudier Brzeska and the Subdray high schools were launched and met In October 2020. They also met the sociologists from LAVUE-CNRS and the engineers from ECE . Read More
Because of new covid restrictions, ENERGE M24 Consortium Meeting went again online. The meeting was hold online on 14th December 2020 with all Project Partners represented. The agenda planned general discussions and workshops. The partners discussed innovative ideas to reduce energy use in schools. The opportunity to hear for the first time Nadine Roudil and Antonella Di Trani from LAVUE-CNRS to present their sociological work for ENERGE. Great to see the team and to hear about the project activities Read More
Because of Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, ENERGE M16 Consortium Meeting went online. Read More
The ENERGE project was presented at the NWE Impact event on 4th and 5th December 2019 in the Plaine Images facility, Tourcoing. Read More
We are pleased to announce that the ENERGE project official launch event will take place on December 9th 2019 in Orleans in France. Read More
Project Partners from NUI Galway, R2M Solutions and University of Luxembourg will represent the ENERGE Project at the INTERREG NWE Event in Lille, France on the 4th and 5th December, 2019. Read More
Great progress and engagement at the ENERGE Project Partner Meeting facilitated by the ENERGE Team at TU Delft. Read More
ENERGE partners met in Lille on April 10th. Read More
Downloads
"The ENERGE outputs provide schools with free materials that are easy to use and fun for students to engage with. Our students really enjoyed the experience of developing these materials with the ENERGE partners and they hope that your school enjoys using them!"
Demonstration School Teacher
There ENERGE methodology is a series of steps, which when applied together, offer a multi-faceted approach to improving sustainability.
Schools can apply the steps in whatever way suits their needs the most. Some schools have chosen to apply all steps at once, while others are focusing on the educational modules or interventions first and plan to undertake other steps in the following term.
The ENERGE platform, called Greengage, lets students learn more about their indoor comfort levels and the school's energy usage. Various screens and interactive stands can be placed in the school to allow students to engage with and learn more about energy-saving practices in a non-classroom environment.
The data comes from a network of energy meters (kWh) and indoor climate sensors (CO², temperature, humidity, lighting and sound levels) which can be installed throughout the school.
Click here to find out more about the Greengage platform and how to access it in your school
Educational activities designed by pedagogical experts and teachers from ENERGE Project Schools, help improve energy literacy among students. The activities are broken into various units and modules, suitable for various subject types.
Get to grips with your school's energy usage profiles by collecting billing data and using the ENERGE building audit methodology to capture key information about your school's energy efficiency.
Click here to download the School Building Stock Audit Methodology Report
The ENERGE team have developed interventions/activities that can be carried out in school to improve sustainability. These activities, designed with the assistance of the ENERGE Project Schools, enable the learning community to take action and make positive changes. Activities include 'switch off' campaigns, student pledges, out-of-hours energy audits, energy awareness days and more.
Click here to download a copy of the ENERGE Intervention Strategy Documents
The ENERGE project has developed select Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to help measure how effective the ENERGE campaign is in your school. These KPIs can be compared across schools using ENERGE, which can help identify best practices, new approaches, and other schools at a similar stage in their sustainability journey.
The ENERGE dashboard offers a comprehensive view of real-time and past data gathered from electrical meters and indoor climate sensors installed within school buildings as part of the ENERGE methodology. Developed using PowerBi, this user-friendly dashboard allows school building occupants and other interested individuals to effortlessly compare energy usage over various time periods, facilitating energy usage benchmarking (refer to the Figure below).
In each of the project schools, an online survey to capture the students' attitudes and behaviours was conducted at the start and end of the project. By analysing the results, we were able to see how student attitudes etc. changed over the course of the project. We have made this survey freely available for other schools to use. The questions are pre-designed but can be edited to better suit your school's needs. Why not try it in your school and see if your students would like to analyse the results as part of a class exercise.
Click here to get your own copy of the ENERGE School Survey (Students) on Google Forms
Click here to get your own copy of the ENERGE School Survey (Staff) on Google Forms
