ESL Report – Annie Harvey

1. Describe TAFE as a learning institution

Define electricity

Electricity : Benefits / Effects

The role electricity plays in our lives by enhancing our productivity, comfort, safety, health, and
economy is obvious. We live with the benefits of electricity everyday. So much so that we take it
for granted that whenever we plug our gadgets into the wall socket, the power will be there. While
most people give little thought to where electricity comes from, there are many different ways to
generate electricity - including coal, oil, gas, hydroelectric, nuclear, and solar. Each option inherits
certain advantages that merit consideration whenever there is a need for a new power plant.
Nuclear generated electricity is unique in that it inherently addresses many of the short-comings of
the other means for power generation. The use of nuclear power provides answers for many
problems in the areas of the environment, safety, economics, reliability, sustainability, and even
waste

Electricity has been part of our lives. It has brought many things that surely have made many wonders and life would seem so
hard without it. Electricity powers our light, heating, electronic appliances such as computers and television, and a host of
essential services that we take for granted. However, electricity has much more important aspects because it is a fundamental
feature of all matter. Electricity is the force that holds together the molecules and atoms of all substances. The type of electricity
that is most familiar to us is electrical current. This is the flow of electrical charges through a substance called a conductor such
as a metal wire. This flow happens beacuse some of the negatively charge electrons circling the nuclei of the conductor's are held
loosely. The electrons can move from one atom to the next, producing and electrical current.

According to (by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 09.30.10SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ) In a perfect world, all of this
would make no difference. People would rationally analyze information and take the time to think about it from all angles before
forming an opinion. But in this world, with humans full of cognitive biases, green should probably take the time to make sure that
what they are saying isn't being obscured by the way it is said. If it can lead to things like more energy conservation, it seems worth
the effort

Different ideas from authors regarding energy conservation

The need to conserve for future

EXISTING ENERGY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

5.1 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
5.1.1 From the interviews with staff members and the site inspection it was evident that, while
there was an acknowledgement that the conservation of energy was an important issue,
this philosophy was not being carried through in a systematic and uniform way and as part
of the daily routine of the school.
5.1.2 Some of the teaching material that was observed during the inspection promoted “saving
the earth” by switching off lights and equipment when they were not being used
However, there was no evidence of a systematic, active, or uniform approach for a
“switch off” campaign on the campus to follow through on these sentiments. Nevertheless,
there was evidence of conservation measures being practiced in some areas of the
school. These included the TAFE buildings and the Farm but these achievements relied on
the motivation and dedication of individual staff members.
5.1.3 Lights were observed to be on in rooms and areas where there were no students present.
Computers were observed to be on and in full operating mode even when not being used
by students or staff.
5.1.4 There were a number of fridges and freezers located around the campus. Some were
emptied and turned off for the school holidays, for example in the Domestic Science
buildings. However, fridges were observed to be left running in the Canteen and Stables
when they were either holding small amounts of food or empty.
5.1.5 The lighting in the newer buildings was controlled by movement sensors and air
conditioning was set to operate for a maximum of two hours. However, the school
admitted that the movement sensors were not all operational and they were not being
repaired or replaced when they became faulty.
5.1.6 The management of energy on a daily basis by the school community is seen to be as
equally important as the investment in modifications to existing services, systems, or
controls to assist with minimising the use of energy. Significant savings are achievable
through a disciplined and methodical approach to simply switching off equipment, lights,
and air conditioning when they are not required.

DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT AN ENERGY MANAGEMENT PLAN

6.1.1 Energy can be saved both by installing energy efficient equipment and by ensuring
that lights and equipment are only switched on when necessary and switched off when
no longer being used. Turning off lights and equipment when they are not being used,
even if they are on automatic switches will save significant amounts of energy. A self
managed program for saving energy can be a very inexpensive and effective way to
make a significant inroad to meeting the energy reduction targets.
6.1.2 The Australian Greenhouse Office provides information on a wide range of topics
relating to energy management and their toolkit for setting up an energy management
program can be found on their website at
http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/lgmodules/wep/setting_up/training/training8.html
6.1.3 The development of an Energy Management Plan could include some or all of the
following strategies:
Inform staff and students about the benefits of saving energy and make the issue a
“sticky” agenda item at each staff or student meeting. Give feedback on energy
savings and translate the figures to tonnes of greenhouse gases to give it additional
meaning.
Appoint staff or students to become “energy advocates.” These advocates should
not have a role to point out indiscretions or to hand out infringement notices; their
role would be to help other busy staff members and students to maintain a focus on
turning off unused lights and equipment.
Prepare a list of equipment that can be turned off during the day when it is not
being used. Turning off office equipment when it’s not in use during the day can also
make significant savings. Staff should be encouraged to switch off equipment at
their workstations/classrooms before leaving for lunch or meetings. If long warm-up
times on photocopiers or faxes are annoying, use the ‘stand-by’ button. If you don’t
want have to wait for computers to boot-up, just turning off the screen can reduce
the energy consumption by more than half.
Turn off lights and air conditioning units when they are not required, even if they are
on timers.
Turn off fridges and freezers when not required.
Turn off hot water units if they are not being regularly used.
Adopt a low energy policy for purchasing equipment with energy saving features
that can be easily enabled. When purchasing new equipment, assess the capital
cost for purchasing new equipment against long term energy costs, i.e. small
additional capital costs may be offset by long term energy savings.
Enable the energy star features in equipment. Most modern office equipment has
energy saving features built in under the Energy Star program. Normally these need
to be activated manually. Check the equipment manuals for details on how to do
this.
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The automatic power saving options that are incorporated into electrical equipment
are complementary to a switch-off campaign. During the day, they are a practical
aid to help turn off equipment when it is not being used. However, it’s better to have
equipment switched off at the power point overnight and on weekends, as this will
always use less power. This applies to equipment such as printers, photocopiers,
scanners, televisions, video machines, DVD players, microwave ovens, etc. Turning
off all appliances at the power point when they are not needed will save a
significant amount of energy.
Stand-by power (sometimes indicated by the red lights or clocks in TV’s, VCR’s, etc)
is used by many appliances when they are plugged in to the power point and the
switch is left on and in a home can account for 10% of power usage.
Ensure that IT staff and other key staff members are committed and active
participants in the energy saving program through active participation in an energy saving program that is related to the
environmental as well as the financial benefits.

REDUCE THE RUN TIME OF COMPUTERS there is software available that can be used to universally set a specific
time to turn off computers. This could be particularly useful for turning computers off at
night, weekends and during school holidays.

ADJUST RUN TIME OF ADMINISTRATION/LIBRARY RESOURCE CENTRE BUILDING AIR

CONDITIONING PLANT

REDUCE THE RUN TIME OF ELECTRIC HOT WATER HEATERS Turning off all hot water services during school
holidays and public holidays. This
would be implemented as part of a “switch off campaign.”

INSTALL TIMER SWITCHES OR INSTALL MOVEMENT SENSORS TO TURN OFF LIGHTS

RECOMMENDATIONS

REPLACE FLUORESCENT LIGHT FITTINGS WITH ENERGY EFFICIENT TUBES

SHADE SKYLIGHTS IN ADMINISTRATION/RESOURCE CENTRE BUILDING

OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS/INVESTIGATIONS
INSTALL A PRIVATE CHECK METER TO MONITOR THE POWER USAGE OF THE FARM.

TIMER CONTROLS TO EXISTING SMALL A/C UNITS.

OTHER ISSUES FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION

The installation of additional solar panels or wind power.

The benefits of a BMS to the users/tenants of

buildings include:
efficient use of resources and energy.
effective monitoring and targeting of energy use.
good control of comfort conditions.
improved proactive maintenance of plant reliability.
Improved management of security systems.