By David Wrench, speaker at the 2019 National Clean Technologies Conference & Exhibition and Executive Director, Hivve Technology.
The impact of changes in Australian electricity markets and a growing community desire to embrace environmentally sustainable practices is leading schools to consider how they meet their future energy needs.
School budget power supply systems are insufficient and require upgrade.
School energy demand is likely to continue increasing as student populations grow, temperatures rise, and more attention is paid to the quality of the internal classroom environment.
Traditionally, the only option available for schools to meet this challenge is to upgrade their grid power supply. This process is both costly and time consuming. Increasing reliance on grid power is also at odds with the values of those school communities who want to show environmental leadership by implementing sustainable practices in their school.
However, there is an alternative clean energy solution that avoids the economic, environmental and social costs of grid supplied electricity. Hivve Technology has developed a comprehensive energy solution for schools that is fully sustainable and 100% reliable.
The Hivve system combines solar PV generation and battery storage with classroom level energy measurement and control. Hivve enabled classrooms within a school are managed as a network creating a reliable, onsite power supply system. As classrooms are added to the Hivve network, the school becomes more energy self-sufficient and less reliant on grid power. In most cases, the Hivve system is a lower capital and operating cost alternative to grid supplied electricity.
Hivve iQ – the technology at the heart of the Hivve system – monitors and reports classroom conditions in real time. Data captured includes temperature and air quality as well as energy generation and use.
This information is a powerful tool that allows teachers, students and the school community to actively engage with their environment. Research on the relationship between indoor environment and learning reinforces what teachers have been saying for years – comfortable temperatures, healthy air quality and thoughtful design are major contributors to good educational outcomes.
Hivve’s unique classroom by classroom approach is designed to suit any type of classroom or learning area. In this way all classrooms in a school, regardless of age or design, can be Hivve enabled allowing school-wide management of energy use and learning conditions.
For new build projects, Hivve Technology has created an advanced modular classroom – The Hivve – providing schools with a green, zero net energy learning space that is scalable, flexible, affordable and fast.
Hivve Technology is a real game changer that gives schools an outstanding opportunity to demonstrate practical environmental leadership in our communities. Students and teachers benefit from better classroom environments, schools benefit from significantly lower energy costs and the environment benefits from lower CO2 emissions.
Hivve Technology will be explored in more depth by David Wrench at the National Clean Technologies Conference and Exhibition at the Sunshine Coast from May 29 – 31 2019.
About the author
David Wrench, Executive Director of Hivve Technology, is speaking at the 2019 National Clean Technologies Conference & Exhibition being held 29-31 May on the Sunshine Coast. https://nctce.com.au/
As Managing Director of the EPB modular building business for the past 14 years, David has extensive experience in prefabricated modular design and construction. Trained as an engineer, he has worked in banking and the energy industry, having successfully established small energy businesses over the past 20 years. David has a real passion for innovation, a love of design and the belief that combining latest design with technology innovations will enable classrooms to meet the needs of future generations of learners.