100 Schools Join Victoria’s Greener Government School Buildings Pilot

Chalkboard image: geralt

The one hundred schools participating in a Victorian Government program seeking to drive down school carbon emissions and energy costs have been named.

The Greener Government School Buildings Pilot Program will be supporting schools in carrying out energy audits and implementing cost- saving measures such as solar power systems and lighting upgrades. The program will also provide educational opportunities for students in areas such as energy efficiency.

The Victorian Government will stump up the funds for upgrades and schools will pay back the costs over a five-year period based on savings. After payback is complete, each school will keep half of the savings generated, making more funds available for other activities.

A list of participating schools can be viewed here (Word document).

The pilot will help schools and the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) better understand ways to reduce energy consumption and assist the VSBA in the development of future school and Department policies, and environmental sustainability programs.

The initiative is part of the Greener Government Buildings Program and contributes to the Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET) goals of 25 per cent renewables by 2020 and 40 per cent by 2025. Overall, the Greener Government Buildings Program will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 25,000 tonnes each year.

The school program is also an element of a $2.8 billion investment by the Andrews Labor Government to improve classrooms, upgrade facilities and construct new schools across the state. The Government says environmental sustainability principles are being brought into the design, construction and refurbishment of all government schools.

Solar Subsidies For Schools Across Australia

Thousands of schools throughout Australia went solar under the government-funded National Schools Solar program (NSSP), which allocated $217 million to 5,300 schools for the installation of solar panels and implementation of other water/energy efficiency measures. A total of 4,897 schools installed solar power systems under the NSSP.

Many other schools have also gone solar since the NSSP program ended in June 2013, but with close to 9,500  across the nation there would still be a large number yet to reap the electricity cost savings and emission reductions solar energy can provide.

While the NSSP may be long-gone, schools are eligible for Australia’s major solar subsidy, which can reduce the up-front cost of acquiring a commercial solar system by many thousands of dollars.