Involve the whole school including servicesin a year-long program of behavior change initiatives so that everyone helps to save energy.(Services are: food service, main office, nurse, counselors.)
Involve outside organizations (such as colleges, businesses, non-profit organizations) in the school energy efficiency effort.Involvement would be presentations, tours, funding, materials, assistance, promotion, or programs.
Create science fair-type projects (experiments or demonstrations) based on school energy efficiency and enter them in a science fair.
Make presentations on school energy efficiencyto the PTA/PTO, the school board and/or the superintendent/school district administration.
Have your students teach other kids what they have learned about energy, environment, and saving energy.
Develop energy information through the arts and present to an audience.
Create an educational display for your school on energy, efficiency, and/or environment.
Track monthly energy savings or classroom behavior changes.Post them in a common area at school.
Develop energy saving tips for the school newspaper, weekly bulletin, or PA system.
Correspond with pen pals about energy, environment, and efficiency.You may use email or regular mail.
Write an article for the local paper on your Green Schools project.
Interview local energy professional(s) and publish the interview(s) in a school or local paper.
Create a survey on energy awareness and administer to people in your school.
Design and build a model of an energy-efficient building or a component of an energy-efficient building for public display and/or for public presentations.
Do a “walk-through” energy audit of the school.Make a list of suggestions for saving energy in the building.
Take home information about using energy efficiently.Use the school newsletter, the PTA/PTO or another organization for families.
Organize an energy patrol to encourage people to change energy-using behavior at school and to monitor the school’s progress toward behaving in new ways when using energy.
Develop an energy efficiency manual specific to your school orfor another building that students have audited.
Research the options for increasing the energy efficiency of school windows, doors, lighting orfood service.Define the problem, list the options, and include information about costs.Then note which option(s) the team recommends and why.
Landscape school for energy efficiency.Plant appropriate plants in appropriate sites to increase the building’s energy efficiency.
Complete a “walk-through” energy audit of student homes.
Make a list of energy problems in the home and suggest solutions.
Each student talks about it with his or her family and makes a plan to change the family’s energy-using behavior.
Give several hours of environmental service or community service related to energy/environment.
Organize and present an energy conference, energy festival or energy workshop for the rest of the school or for the community.
Help to build an energy-efficient building, a greenhouse, ora component of an energy-efficiency system (for example, a daylighting retrofit).
Do a“technical” energy audit of the school (using actual data and calculating losses, savings, etc.).Include a list of suggestions for saving energy in the building.
Create your own Web site.The site should teach about energy efficiency and the environment.
Use the EPA benchmarking tool to rate your school. The ENERGY STAR® Benchmarking Tool is an online tool that evaluates building energy performance on a 0 to 100 scale using detailed data on your building's physical attributes, operating characteristics, and monthly energy consumption. http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=evaluate_performance.bus_portfoliomanager
Establish a Student Advisory Council or environmental club.SACs or clubs should take an active role in the Program and are responsibility for designing and implementing energy–related programs in the school and community.
Submit an article to the Green Schools Gazette – the newsletter by and for students.
