Creative efficiency

By Michael Cheang

THE recent Toyota Eco Youth Programme exhibition reveals one thing – Malaysian students are not short on effort and creativity.

Browsing around the displays put up by the 15 participating schools at the event held at Cititel Mid-Valley in Kuala Lumpur, one could see that the students had put a lot of effort into making their exhibition booths attractive.

The students put up colourful posters and banners, handed out brochures, explained their projects to visitors and distributed candy to guests. One school even had a student dressed as a light bulb.

Nonetheless, what took centre stage were the students’ ideas on reducing electricity consumption in their schools, as this year’s programme carries the theme of “Energy Efficiency.”

The annual six-month environment conservation programme for schools across Malaysia was launched six years ago by UMW Toyota Motor. This year’s programme climaxed on Aug 1 to 3, when participating students gathered in Kuala Lumpur to hold an exhibition and present their projects.

SM Teknik Kuala Lumpur took home the Best Presentation prize of RM1,000 for presenting their project and activities in the most interesting and innovative way. The students made a model of how ventilation units installed on roofs had improved air circulation in classrooms, allowing them to reduce energy consumption though the lessened use of fans and air conditioners.

Student Husna Amir Zulkarnain Zulkifli said the school installed 10 ventilators in five classrooms.

 

SMK Anderson Ipoh students demonstrating how their Andronian Energy Saver works. The school won the Best Exhibition award at the Toyota Eco Youth Programme exhibition.

“It used to be very warm inside the classrooms, so the students would have the fans on at the highest speeds,” she said. “But after we installed the ventilators, the fans only needed to be at a speed of three to keep the rooms cool.”

Labuan’s SMK Taman Perumahan Bedaun’s display stood out – unlike the others which focused on electricity, theirs was on energy saving in natural gas.

 

SM Teknik Kuala Lumpur students Husna Amir Zulkarnain and Tey Meng Ren with a model showing how ventilators improved air circulation in the school’s classrooms. The display won the Best Presentation Prize.

The students found out that the biggest consumer of natural gas in the school was unsurprisingly, the canteen.

Form Four student Shahroom Mohd Shah said the team worked with the canteen operators to replace leaking hoses, clean cooking equipment and develop ways to save gas. They eventually cut down usage by 20% within a month.

However, it was Ipoh’s SMK Anderson’s booth featuring a film commercial and a prominent display of their Andronian Energy Saver project, that took home the RM1,000 Best Exhibition prize. After using a digital Lux meter to measure the light intensity of the normal 36W lights used in their classrooms, the team devised an alternative using aluminium reflector sheets to enhance the light of two 14W bulbs to give out the exact same amount of light as the normal ones.

Student Abdul Rahman Mohd Sirajudeen said they replaced the lights in 18 classrooms with their ‘invention’, with encouraging results. “With this method, we calculated that we can save around RM1,180 in electricity a year,” he said.

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