Energy/Water Use Audit

Engage: 

Have the students watch these short videos – 10 Ways to Save Energy at youtu.be/nklNsdCFrqY and Energy Saver: Low-Cost/No-Cost Energy Saving Tips at youtu. be/Qh9jjqYvEZ4. While students are watching, have them write down two or three ways to save energy that they feel will be the most impactful. When the videos are over, have students share their justifications. Visit energysaver.sc.gov for more energy-saving tips.

Explore: 

Have the students explore their water consumption habits and then use the Water Footprint Calculator – available at www.watercalculator.org – to analyze their direct and virtual water use. Students will explore the reasons why they should care about protecting water resources, making it easier for them to shift their attitudes about their water use.

Begin by dividing the class into groups of three to four students and have each group brainstorm a list of habits they have, products they buy or foods they eat that they think may require a lot of water. After 5 minutes or so, have the groups rank the items, with one indicating the habit or product they think requires the greatest amount of water. Encourage volunteers to share with the class the habits or products they think require the most water.

Alternatively, you could have them reflect on their lists in a journal entry. Then tell students that you are going to give them an opportunity to evaluate their personal water footprint using the Water Footprint Calculator.

Give each student a copy of the My Water Footprint Stats Worksheet available at www.watercalculator.org/ wp-content/uploads/2019/05/WF_MS_L1-My-WF-StatsStudent-Worksheet_2020-02-25.pdf. After students have completed their Water Footprint have them reflect on the following questions:

Are you surprised at how much or how little water you use compared to people in other parts of the world? SAMPLE ANSWER: I am not surprised that people in the United States consume so much water. I am surprised by how little water people in some other parts of the world consume. 

How do the foods you eat and the products you buy affect freshwater resources in a way you never considered before? SAMPLE ANSWER: I guess I thought I had no responsibility for the water needed to produce the food I eat and the stuff I buy. That responsibility belongs to the farmers and the manufacturers. It never occurred to me that I can actually make a difference by cutting back or rethinking what I eat and what I buy.

What actions can you take to help conserve freshwater resources directly? SAMPLE ANSWER: I love our large, green yard, but it needs a lot of water and care. I think one of the biggest steps I could take would be to do research on other options for our huge yard. Maybe we can convert it into a really beautiful xeriscape.

 What actions can you take to help conserve freshwater resources virtually? SAMPLE ANSWER: I’m not sure yet. Maybe I could do research to find out how much water my favorite foods require. I think eating less meat would be a good way for me to conserve freshwater resources virtually

Explain: 

Explain to the students that there are other ways that we could look closely to evaluate consumption and use, just like they did with their water consumption. Explain that an audit is a type of evaluation. The water footprint was an audit of their water consumption that lead to ideas on how to conserve water to save resources.

Explain to the students that now the focus will be on the use of energy through an energy audit. Even though we spend a lot of our day in school, a few of us may notice details about buildings, such as windows and thermostats. We probably also pay little attention to the small actions that each of us does – such as turning lights on and off – that affect energy use. Ask the following questions.

• Why are small actions such as turning down the thermostat or switching off lights that are not in use important? SAMPLE ANSWER: These actions are important not only because they contribute to our comfort, but also because of the use of energy to heat, cool and provide lighting in school buildings increases the cost of operating our schools.

• Is an energy-efficient school more comfortable than one that is not energy-efficient? Why? SAMPLE ANSWER: An energy-efficient school is more comfortable than one that is not energy efficient, and it needs less oil, natural gas, coal, or electricity for heating or cooling. A building that is badly designed or poorly maintained is expensive to operate because it is trying to heat or air condition the outdoors as well as the indoors.

Explain to the students that they will be completing an energy audit of their classroom and/or school. State that the purpose of completing the audit is to evaluate the energy use of the school or classroom and look for ways to conserve energy. Share that by conducting this exercise, they can uncover ways that energy consumption could be reduced, which means saving money and making you more comfortable. Have the students work in partners to complete the Energy Audit Worksheet (provided).

Elaborate: 

KILL-A-WATT ACTIVITY

The students will become more familiar and aware of the amount of energy they are using. With the use of a KillA-Watt device, students will calculate Kilowatt hours and costs. After determining the energy cost of each appliance, they will find ways to save money on the monthly bills by unplugging appliances or even considering investing in “smart appliances.”

Have students view this introductory video on using the KillA-Watt Meter at youtu.be/7K2uBZKLOEg.

Discuss with your students the following questions and review the definition of a Watt and Kilowatt hour.

QUESTIONS

• Is it important to conserve energy? Why or why not?

• Can conserving energy put more money in your pocket? If so, estimate how much money you could save.

• How can we quantify how much energy we are using? We can use an energy usage monitor like Kill-AWatt.

REVIEW

Watt (W) – Watts are used to measure power at a particular time. This number will vary over time and may go up or down throughout the day.

Kilowatt Hour (KWH) – Kilowatt hours are used to measure total energy usage. Since Energy = Power X Time, if a meter shows a constant power of 3 kilowatt hours (3,000 watts) over 2 hours, 6 kilowatts have been used.

Energy companies sell us units of energy – kilowatt hours (KWH). One KWH costs between 15 and 50 cents (depending on your total monthly usage). The more you use, the more it costs per KWH

TASK

In groups, make a list of electronics you’d like to measure. Consider monitoring an appliance that is on, off, in power save mode and unplugged. Consider checking and cell phone or laptop charger when it isn’t charging anything. Maybe monitor large appliances that you use frequently or consume large amounts of energy. Compare old appliances to new ones, incandescent to LED bulbs or standard to Energy Star appliances. Make a table like the one below and monitor power and energy usage over time. Then estimate how much these items would use over an hour and an entire month.

DEVICE- POWER -TIME -ENERGY -HOURLY COST- MONTHLY COST

KILL-A-WATT ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

Either working alone, in small groups or as a whole group, take the following steps.

1. Gather common electrical devices (at least one per group).

2. Predict which appliances use the most energy. Be sure to ask the students to justify their answers – e.g., What makes you think the hairdryer will use the most energy? Can you explain why you think that?

3. Plug in the different appliances to the Kill-A-Watt meter and observe the amount of energy used for several seconds. Record the findings.

4. Lead a discussion of results, asking, for instance, why some appliances used more energy than others. Generally, any appliance producing heat will require more power. The students may notice as they compare results that there is a significant increase in power used for appliances that produce heat. Additionally, some participants may be surprised at some of the results. For instance, many chargers will draw power even when the device (e.g., cell phone, laptop, tablet) is off, and even when the electrical device is not connected to the charger. Students will be surprised to find out that when devices they use are turned off, there is still a power demand. These students also may be led to understand that almost all devices have a fairly constant power demand. For example, a toaster will change between two values – minimum and maximum.

5. When the investigation is completed, have the students write a reflection on the following questions:

• What are the costs associated with your personal energy consumption habits?

• How could you be more environmentally responsible by reducing the use of just a couple of electric devices?

Discuss any changes in lifestyle that the students would consider taking based on the results.

Evaluate: 

Have the students design solutions to address the needs identified in the energy/water consumption audit lesson by reflecting on these questions. The students will submit these questions as their evaluation for the lesson. For each question, allow for reasonable answers.

1. How can recycling and reducing waste be encouraged with respect to your location?

2. What steps might be taken to improve energy efficiency in your location?

3. What changes would you implement to make heating and cooling more energy efficient?

4. How will these changes improve the entire building’s overall energy efficiency? How might they translate into cost savings?

E-Learning Activity: 

For more tools to measure the impact energy usage has on the environment, visit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s website at www.epa.gov/energy/ measure-impact-your-energy-use-environment.

For additional Water Footprint activities to use during EXPLORE, visit the following websites.

• www.watercalculator.org/resource/teachingconservation-with-water-footprint-calculator/

• www.watercalculator.org/resource/waterfootprint-lessons/

• www.watercalculator.org/wp-content/ uploads/2019/05/WF_MS_L3-My-Saving-WaterGame-Plan.pdf

• www.watercalculator.org/wp-content/ uploads/2019/05/WF_HS_L2-Lesson-Plan.pdf

For additional Kill-A-Watt activities to use during ELABORATE, visit www.teachengineering.org/ activities/view/cla_activity1_household_watt_ meter.

For additional Energy Audit activities to use during EXPLAIN, see the following websites.

• www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/ cla_activity2_household_audit

• www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/07/f17/ acts_durow_homeefficiency_315.pdf 

For more School Energy Audit activities to use during EXPLAIN, visit www.energystar.gov/sites/default/files/tools/K12EnergyEfficiencyStudentToolkit.pdf.

Have the students design solutions to address the needs identified in the energy/water consumption audit lesson by reflecting on these questions. The students will submit these questions as their evaluation for the lesson. For each question, allow for reasonable answers.

1. How can recycling and reducing waste be encouraged with respect to your location?

2. What steps might be taken to improve energy efficiency in your location?

3. What changes would you implement to make heating and cooling more energy efficient?

4. How will these changes improve the entire building’s overall energy efficiency? How might they translate into cost savings?