School: Guardian Angels N.S., Newtownpark Avenue, Blackrock, Co. Dublin
Business: Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Pottery Road, Dun Laoghaire
Prize Fund: €4000 sustainability fund for their school
In March 2009 5 members of the Green-Schools Committee from Guardian Angels NS visited the Pfizer Factory on Pottery Road and met the Plant maintenance supervisor Mick Killilea.
The first thing the Green-Schools Committee was informed of was the amount of energy the plant used. The annual electricity costs were almost €5 million. An energy awareness manager had recently been approved and 3 meetings had already taken place to come up with an action plan. Mick and his team were delighted to have input from the committee in Guardian Angels. The first observations they made were in the conference room where they meet. The south facing wall was entirely glass but the blinds were closed and the lights were on! The overhead projector and PC were on standby. Too many lights in the room and the door was open letting heat out! Then Mick admitted that the room hadn’t been used in 4 days and all these things were left on!! When they went on a further tour of the building, things weren’t much better. The hallway lights were permanently on and could not be switched off even though there was lots of natural light flooding in. Lights and PC’s were left on even when they were not being used for long periods of time.
Help is at hand:
After the tour the group sat down to discuss what they could do to improve the energy efficiency of the building. A simple plan was devised:
- The school would design captions with drawings and slogans to placed on P.C’s and near light switches
- They would design large colourful posters which would stand out on the vast bare walls in the offices and the canteen, indicating how everyone can the save the planet.
- An email would be sent to all workers explaining that they are the local school and would love Pfizer to become energy efficient place to work.
- Gaurdian Angels N.S plan to keep in touch with Pfizer to make sure they are keeping on track and really make a difference.
