It is with great joy that we inform you that we have received an email from the organization of this national competition, which places us in the final of the Energy Up 2023 Award, the award ceremony of which will take place in Lisbon on 30th May.
This year’s application is based on the 1st prize already obtained last year, since the 1000€ won (education vouchers) were invested in the purchase of equipment for the Robotics Club and school materials. The project, which has the name Apollo, as god of light, was based on the creation of a weather forecast station, already operating in the Clubs’ space and with data to be worked on internally, as well as the creation and adaptation of a kit to make bicycles electric, as shown in the excerpt highlighted below.
Excerpt from the application:
The Aver-o-Mar School has always developed projects to raise the awareness of the school community to behaviour changes in the use of energy resources, in order to value sustainable mobility and sustainability, also associating itself to environmental preservation practices of various kinds.
In 2021/22, we register the Energy-Up Prize, the amount invested in equipment, in order to improve the resources available for these areas, having advanced towards the creation of a weather forecast station, initially focused on supporting the existing greenhouse at the school, but also designed to inform the local community.
(…) we are moving towards making real data on temperature, humidity, luminosity and wind available to the community, especially to local farmers. This information, made available on the School’s website, will also allow the use of these data by students of the 2nd and 3rd cycles, and even the 1st cycle, in different subjects.
The project, with a potential for further growth and the connection of new sensors, responding to challenges and the growing involvement of students, includes the installing of temperature and light quality monitoring sensors in classrooms to reduce energy consumption, always taking into account the use of sunlight and turning the heating on/off.
The measure started with a test room, in block B, measuring usage indicators: as an example, if the room is well lit, the sensor suggests turning off the artificial light and if it is within the thermal comfort range for humans, it suggests lowering the intensity or turning off the heating; if it is outside, it will turn on, only for the time needed to return to the thermal comfort range.
This procedure, it is intended, will be extended to all the blocks (phase II) and, at a later stage, to all the classrooms (phase III), the aim being, within three years, to have sensors installed in all the school spaces.
As a large number of our students commute to school by bicycle, taking advantage of the surrounding terrain, the Robotics Club is developing “electric bicycle kits” to help students with longer journeys (many students live more than 3 km from school).
The project, after its application in bicycles (this school year), intends, next year, to extend to a go-kart with pedals, which is part of the project “Reference School for Road Education”, in application in the School Grouping.
Data from the GALP website:
The Energy Up Award is a competition promoted by the Galp Foundation and Galp Solar, with the support of its institutional partners APA, ADENE, DGEGeDGE and aims to reward school projects in the areas of more efficient energy consumption or sustainable mobility.
This school year, we are once again inviting schools to address the topic of energy transition, implementing projects with an impact on society, within the scope of efficient energy consumption, and challenging their students to be an active part of this mission, so we will distinguish schools in Portugal (Mainland and Islands) that have invested in energy sustainability in the school community.
The Grand Prize will be the installation of solar panels up to 20.000€ in the winning school. A prize of €1,000 will also be awarded for the best project at each school level (1st CEB; 2nd/3rd CEB; Secondary/Professional Education).
Energy Up Prize (fundacaogalp.com)
2022 Award (GALP website and presentation video):
Energy Up Prize Winners (fundacaogalp.com)