Thanks to its energy saving policy and a sustainability road map, DILIT IH Rome has reduced its carbon emissions by over 2000kg in the past five years. It took straightforward actions to protect our planet which are well within the reach of any school.
Based in a historic building, which was not built with a view to save energy, the team at DILIT IH Rome took advantage of the regular maintenance schedule to gradually introduce energy saving changes. This meant the infrastructure cost was phased over a few years, and choices made which were both good for the environment and reduced regular fuel bills.
- Starting in 2015, all windows were replaced with new ones with high thermal and acoustic insulation,
- 2016 saw a re-lamping project, replacing all bulbs with high efficiency LED lamps,
- In 2017 a project was carried out to improve the efficiency of the thermal plant (boilers and air conditioners) and all the radiator valves, and these are kept well maintained.
- In 2018 they changed energy supplier to one which uses 100% renewable energy, achieving the certification of a green company from the supplier.
As well as these structural changes, the whole school team is involved in reducing needless waste. Teachers have a responsibility to close radiator valves in winter, or air conditioning in summer, when they leave the classroom. Outdoor lights are timed to only switch on when it starts to get dark outside. Needlessly heating, or cooling, empty rooms is like throwing carbon into the atmosphere and money down the drain.
The photocopying machine, when not used, goes into stand-by to reduce energy consumption, and there is a function allowing overall energy consumption to be monitored. Cartridges and toners are recycled.
The energy and photocopier and printer supply companies were chosen based on their corporate sustainability, and other suppliers are now regularly asked about their own sustainability policies.
As part of its sustainability strategy, the energy supply company makes charitable donations to three charities – “Save the planet”, “Save the Children” and “Dynamo Camp” (which is located near Florence in Italy, and gives children with chronic illnesses fun recreational therapy programmes).
The school also has introduced policies on reducing consumables.
Printing documents or e-mails is discouraged (to reduce paper useage), bathrooms use washable fabric towels (not disposable paper ones) and the school cafeteria only uses washable cutlery and crockery - not single use plastic cutlery and crockery.
All unavoidable waste is all separated in dedicated bins - paper, plastic, aluminium, glass and food. Recycle bins are available on every floor of the building of the school and in the cafeteria.
Students are encouraged to engage with this with signs around the school and recommendations in the student’s guidebook.
As well as these actions to reduce energy use and its negative environmental impact, DILIT IH Rome encourages students to make better sustainability choices in their own lives:
- Through the curriculum topics in some lessons
- By suggesting they use local markets for food
- Encouraging them to use city bikes and electric scooters to get around Rome.
For this wide range of actions, we are delighted to award DILIT IH Rome the IH Sustainability Badge!