Learning assistant and Green Team leader Fiona Mosher tries to be sustainable at Brentwood Elementary.

The team has planted apple trees and leads recycling and composting efforts. Last yearB次元官网网址檚 team, which had 24 Grade 4 and 5 students, embarked on their first energy saving project, and by simply asking students and teachers to turn off the lights when not in use, they managed to save over $400 on energy between October and April of the last school year.

B次元官网网址淭he power of it is that itB次元官网网址檚 a simple idea, but it made people cognizant of saving power, so it wasnB次元官网网址檛 a big onerous task that one person did,B次元官网网址� said Mosher.

They plan on using the money to buy a B次元官网网址榖uddy bench,B次元官网网址� where a child can sit on if they need a friend to play with.

Trevor Billy, energy manager for School Distirct 63 (Saanich), was tasked with reducing the DistrictB次元官网网址檚 greenhouse gas emissions by 33 per cent of 2007 levels by 2020. They are at 15.7 per cent thus far (last year they emitted 1838 tons of GHGs), and energy savings are largely responsible for that. The district has been busy upgrading boilers, adding heat pumps, and putting lights on timers. The district is about one-third of the way through changing all its light fixtures to LEDs, which is sponsored in part by BC Hydro, which covers part of the capital costs and energy saving campaigns. Billy expects to convert every school over to LEDs in the next two years.

New lights have been on BillyB次元官网网址檚 radar for a long time, but he said that in the last 18 months, light quality improved and prices dropped dramatically, which sped their adoption. In many cases, they could retain the old fixtures and just replace the bulbs with compatible LED alternatives. Billy said he was surprised how quickly teachers and students noticed the new flicker-free bulbs.

B次元官网网址淭hese new fixtures donB次元官网网址檛 buzz, they donB次元官网网址檛 hum, we just donB次元官网网址檛 have eye strain anymore,B次元官网网址� said Billy.

The District will spend about $75,000 on LED upgrades per year, but the school district will recoup their investment in five years since they use less than half the power and last five years versus 18 months, saving labour costs. Billy said the LEDs are an easy-to-understand way to conserve energy, hoping to use that to raise awareness of energy conservation.

Shane Power, a custodian at North Saanich Middle School, said he has been complaining to Billy about the old fluorescents for some time because if one light in a tall place burnt out, it could not be immediately replaced. Instead, the district would wait until several bulbs were burned out before hiring electricians to put up scaffolding and change them all. The old fluorescents also dimmed as they aged, which he noticed during his night shift, and took a few minutes to reach full brightness. New LED bulbs were installed over a stairwell about two years ago and Power said B次元官网网址渢hose lights still look like the day they put them in.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 just night and day with these lights. I canB次元官网网址檛 wait until the whole schoolB次元官网网址檚 done,B次元官网网址� said Power.