“Students certainly create an awful lot of energy,” says Christopher Kirkup, Principal at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. “But until we’re able to bottle it, we’ll continue to be heavily reliant on other resources.”

The Penrith school is part of a Cumbria Action For Sustainability (CAFS) project supported with £35,000 from Foundation. The project increases energy efficiency in two buildings near the Lake District – the school and Rosley Village Hall.

Local firm Sundog Energy has fitted 42 photovoltaic panels to the school roof - turning light into electricity and allowing the substantial savings to be ploughed back into the children’s education.

Mr Kirkup said: “Apart from the cost issue, it’s a fantastic opportunity to teach our young people more about climate change and the technology being developed to tackle carbon emissions. They can see it in action first hand, and it can support their learning in a range of subjects including maths, science and environmental science.”

Stuart Harrison, Design Technology teacher at the school, added: “My department is keen to highlight the benefits of engineering as a career choice. There’s no better way of stimulating interest than involving students in this kind of scheme.”
The CAFS project also saw a village hall at the heart of this small Cumbrian community increase its own efficiency with the best insulator nature can provide – sheep’s wool.

Local firm Second Nature UK spent years perfecting the ideal blend of sheep’s wool to give all the benefits of insulation, without the downsides associated with synthetic materials such as fibreglass.

Managing Director Christine Armstrong is in no doubt that users of the village hall, the scheme’s beneficiaries, will see a number of improvements from this natural solution to energy loss.

She said: “The building will be warmer in winter and cooler in the summer, and the trustees will see a reduction in their energy bills as a result. Our insulation -Thermafleece - only needs to be fitted once, as it will last as long as the building itself.
“I think when you use a natural British product like this, it captures the imagination of the community, getting them involved and engaged.”
Richard Suddaby is the Project Officer at CAFS that set the schemes in motion. He said: “Here are two different venues that require subtly different solutions to their energy issues.

“Foundation helped deliver the right answers for each individual case.”