Achieving net zero for schools in 3 actionable steps

Few industries have to endure never-ending budget constraints as much as the education sector. With funding needing to be spread across maintaining existing infrastructure, refurbishments, faculty costs, marketing and more, it’s challenging to get buy-in for long-term investments – even if they will deliver significant cost savings over time.

But with a tailored approach to sustainability through a Net Zero Strategy, your school can better understand its consumption, build a solar plan and then install the right solution for your usage and future demands.

Smart Commercial Solar has proudly partnered with Eco Educate to connect our clients with quality environmental consultancy and Net Zero opportunities as a natural next step to solar installations. If this is something you'd like to discuss don't hesitate to reach out at the bottom of the article.

Why education is essential

While installing rooftop solar is essential to long-term carbon reduction, especially if we are to hit our Net Zero targets by 2050, education around climate change and productive actions are just as crucial.

In fact, according to a recent study on The role of climate change education on individual lifetime carbon emissions, climate change education is understood to have a greater influence on carbon reduction than offshore wind, electric vehicles, building insulation and LED residential lighting – second only to rooftop solar.

The running theory is that when we know more, we can actually do more to enact real and sustainable change – think of it like a ripple effect that promotes more widespread environmentalism and green practices.

The Eco Educate team has worked extensively with schools in this area and they help us to understand the vital role that the education sector plays in this conversation – not just because it presents opportunities for positive change and teaching sustainability best practices to the next generation, but also because the industry itself is a significant climate contributor that would benefit greatly from additional support to drive change. Addressing the root cause through education while also helping schools become more energy-efficient with rooftop solar is the best of both worlds.

Breaking down your Net Zero Strategy into actional steps

In order to convince decision-makers to see value in sustainable development and start enacting real change – such as by installing smart solar solutions – it’s helpful to break down the strategy into a few key steps.

STEP 1: Auditing

Before you can start implementing the tools to help you reduce your institution’s carbon emissions, you must first understand your usage. That’s why it’s so critical to have a professional conduct a thorough audit of your school and its energy consumption. Only with the right data at hand will you be able to forge a clear path towards Net Zero.

STEP 2: Building the plan

Having an action plan you can refer back to over the months and years that follow will ensure you remain true to your Net Zero goals, and you can also adapt the strategy as needed – for example, if your consumption increases or decreases, or new solutions hit the market.

In a recent webinar on achieving Net Zero, Energy in Education for EnergyAction, Smart Commercial Solar was joined on the panel by Eco Educate, who shared their easy five-step roadmap to sustainability in schools:

1. Educate: The Eco Educate team builds a strong foundation for sustainability initiatives to grow in the school by first looking to educate and upskill. Whether it be Professional Development for the school leaders and staff, or workshops for the students and parents, starting with a quality education ensures the school has lifted the standard of climate literacy and sustainable practice from the ground up.
2. Articulate: Establish a School Environmental Management Plan (SEMP) articulating how sustainability comes to life in the school as well as the vision and goals for the years ahead.
3. Measure: Measure the school’s waste, ecological and/or carbon footprint. This could be the total GHG emissions generated by your school over a calendar year which becomes a baseline to measure future progress against.
4. Intervene: Implement changes in the school that help to take action on goals through interventions like: installing solar, establishing a student leadership team, switching to LED lighting, and many more!
5. Offset/Achieve: See the school’s commitment to addressing climate change recognized through next steps like carbon offsetting or establishing Climate Active Certification status!

STEP 3: Installing rooftop solar

The final step on your journey to Net Zero is making physical changes to your facilities. That’s where Smart Commercial Solar can help you meet your sustainability targets as a solar-powered school. We service clients across all industries and have installed systems in 80 Australian schools and two in Vanuatu under our community initiative, One Sun. We can help you better understand your energy consumption and match the right solution to your needs – the only decision then is whether to choose an outright purchase or PPA.

If your school is ready to embrace smart solar solutions, we can get the ball rolling with a feasibility assessment.

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