Under the Climate Change Act 2017, the Victorian Government established an ultimate goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
We launched the Greener Government School Buildings pilot program to drive action towards the zero emissions goal and help schools become more sustainable and environmentally friendly.
We explored ways schools could reduce their environmental impact, including upgrading to more energy efficient lighting and using solar panel systems to generate renewable energy, which by October 2020 will achieve:
- generation of 1,369 megawatts of electricity – an energy saving which is the equivalent of powering 196 houses for a year
- reduction of CO2 emissions by more than 1,600 tonnes – equivalent to taking 347 cars off the road for a year
- savings of over $300,000 on electricity bills.
Additionally, we piloted solutions at three schools to make small-scale buildings self-sufficient by taking them off the electric grid.
As well as reducing electricity bills and emissions in schools, the pilot program is generating important information to feed into future sustainability initiatives to make schools more sustainable.