What are the benefits of building inspections?
Regular inspections of your energy and water using equipment can help you to identify where and how much waste is occurring. They can also help you prioritise housekeeping and maintenance activities.
Inspections should be carried out at different times of the day so you can build up a picture of how equipment is used and perhaps identify what apparatus is left running overnight, wasting energy and increasing your costs.
Getting pupils involved in this process can enhance group participation and enthusiasm. Their work can also be incorporated into curricular activity and used to support awareness raising.
Use the same sheets and date them each time they are used so that you can track changes over time. This will help you to find out what measures are working and identify other areas which may require attention.
How to get started on building inspections
Develop a set of checklists to cover all areas of your school. Most energy is used to provide heating (space and water), lighting and to power ITC equipment. Specialist areas such as kitchens and sports facilities should have their own checklist.
Specialist water checklists can be developed, or questions simply added to those energy checklists covering areas where water is available (such as toilets). Allocate checklists to the appropriate people. For instance, maintenance staff may be responsible for inspections of heating plant and specialist areas whilst pupils could complete good housekeeping checklists for toilets, corridors and classroom areas.
Develop a set of simple questions or adapt existing material for inspectors to respond to such as:
Are windows open at the same time as the heating is on in this area?
Are the lights on unnecessarily in this area? Why? Adequate daylight, Empty room?
Resources to help you with this activity
Find out what others are doing and if you have a question or need further help post a question on the discussion forum
Download your Scheme Progress Booklet and use the simplified checklist to make a start
Where to get further information
The Carbon Trust have produced a free guide: A Whole School Approach (CTV037) with an insert to help schools with inspections. You may need to tailor the publication to suit your school’s requirements.
