Okehampton College wins national green energy competition

Okehampton College has won a national competition which recognises the school’s cutting edge Green initiatives.

The prize is a £150,000 energy makeover from British Gas.

Okehampton was chosen from six finalists nationally in the secondary school category.

It will donate £25,000 of the prize money to the runners-up – Fulham Cross in London – to help support their own energy projects.

The school is planning to use the prize to install a second biomass heater to warm the older buildings on site.

The college’s community energy manager, Keith Webber, said: “This would allow us to heat up the old end of the school for free. This would free up more money for teaching and other things at the college.

“These energy projects mean that we will have achieved an 80 per cent reduction in our gas usage. It makes a very substantial difference.”

Last year the college won the £100,000 European prize in the prestigious Zayed Future Energy Prize which recognises long term vision in renewable energy and sustainability. The college used the money to help pay for a wind turbine.

Okehampton College already has a special building management system to control heating, a wood pellet boiler that saves £25,000 a year on heating bills as well as 3,000 low energy lights throughout the school and solar panels.