Albert Ellul, engineer of the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools, yesterday explained the environmental features at the newly-built boys’ secondary school in Qormi to Education Minister Louis Galea who went to see the final preparations at the school, which opens next month.

The school, said Mr Ellul, was the best example of environmental awareness. The ceilings had a layer of insulation to retain heat in winter and keep cool in summer, especially in the upper storeys.

The windows were all double glazed, which helped sound-proofing and the loss of heat in winter, while keeping out the cold. Mr Ellul said that rain falling on the roofs and school grounds would be channelled to several reservoirs which in all could collect some 1,600 cubic metres of water for use in various systems.

Roof water would be collected for use as second class water for washing the floors and flushing toilets. School grounds water would be third class water, to be stored separately for watering the large number of trees the school grounds will have.

It was expected that the school will be mostly self-sufficient in water throughout the year. Water for drinking would come from the national system and water taps will close automatically after use, to cut down on waste.

Even the school’s lighting is designed to respect the environment, using T5 technology, with bulbs and light-tubes five times as efficient as the normal variety. The corridors on the upper floor would have an innovative lighting system using solar light. Solar power would also be used for heating water and electricity production. The school has five solar water heaters with a capacity of 1,500 litres, saving some 15,000 units of electricity.

The solar system uses 39 photovoltaic panels of 200w each, producing a maximum of 7.8 kw. The system would produce 10 per cent of the school’s energy needs, producing 13,000 units of electricity and saving on 10.5 tons of carbon dioxide production. The system installed at the new Kirkop school had produced 12,600 kw of clean energy in its first year of use.

Dr Galea said the government had the environment as one of its main priorities and education was an important means of promoting the environment.