Aurora School

Energy Module Learning Story

Aurora School is a school for Deaf and Deafblind students. Since 2016 we have been working hard towards completing our energy module. It has been a long journey, however, creating positive habits and real cultural change does not happen overnight and I do believe that is what we have achieved.

We conducted an energy audit of the school back in November 2016. From that audit we identified some areas we could improve upon. Being a school for Deaf and Deafblind children there are minimum requirements we need to meet to accommodate our students such as, consistent thermostat regulation year round and minimum LUX meter readings in classrooms. What we have been able to do is put up bi-lingual signage around the school reminding everyone to turn of lights when no one is in the room or simply reminding them to be energy conscious. We have de-lamped areas of the school where possible, installed light sensors in staff toilets and store rooms and replaced some fluorescent globes with LED globes.

The students all participate in an extensive unit that focusses on resources and renewable energy. The program is bilingual and multi-sensory and they explore the concepts of energy through their sense of touch, smell, vision and sound.

Since commencing the energy module in 2016 Aurora School has managed to reduce our electricity usage by 49,974 kWh in total. We are very proud of this achievement.