Supporting the Environment
Our Riviera students in Years 5 & 6 spent the last day of Term 3 donned in their ‘footy colours’ planting 150 trees at Keysborough, not only as a special memento for our centenary celebrations, but more importantly as part of our focus on improving our School’s environmental footprint.
The trees were generously donated by Kingston City Council whose nursery team are experts in our local flora, and together with our dedicated Keysborough grounds staff, our tree planting has been carefully planned to ensure the suitability of tree species to the local area and their long-term survival at Keysborough.
As we all know, trees are a powerhouse when it comes to absorbing the major greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2). Just one large, mature canopy tree can store about 10kg of CO2 and produce 2,700kg of oxygen. The more trees we plant, the more we can help combat the impacts of climate change.
Ecological landscaping is also a key feature of the new Bayview Precinct including a ‘green’ rooftop terrace designed to improve biodiversity and provide a dynamic educational environment. Importantly, it will also reduce urban heat island effect which occurs when natural land cover is replaced by dense concentrations of surfaces that absorb and retain heat, thereby increasing energy costs such as air conditioning. Our rooftop garden and large number of green spaces around the Precinct will significantly reduce this impact.
In addition, the all-electric building is futureproofed for a decarbonised grid and will improve local air quality by being combustion-free. Heating and cooling systems are 10% more efficient than code requirements with interlock switches that turn off systems when the windows are open. Insulation is also 20% better than code requirements and high-performance ‘low-e’ double glazing works to block UV light. Collectively these and many more eco features work together to create a vastly superior energy saving Precinct.
As we continue to develop our Campus over the coming years, all new buildings will feature a range of sustainability initiatives and we will retro fit eco-technologies where we can. Recently this has included the major installation of 1,305 photovoltaic solar panels across the Campus that will generate 2,155 kWh of power every day which equates to around half of our total energy use. This is a critical investment in our future sustainability.
As a school, we will continue to embrace opportunities to work with our students, staff and wider community to decrease our carbon footprint and become more environmentally sustainable.
Aerial images of Mentone Grammar, September 2023