Green Beaconhills

STUDENTS at Beaconhills College Village Campus, Berwick, are champions when it comes to sustainability.
The Year 9 students were named Sustainable Living Challenge Champions in a prestigious national environmental program for their project Sustainable Building Design.
The Sustainable Living Challenge, run by the University of New South Wales and the United Nations Environment Program, encourages high school students to explore sustainability and environmental issues.
For this year’s project, the students led an investigation to determine possible sustainable ideas for a new learning centre at their school.
The students considered using recycled materials as well as sourcing locally produced materials.
They discovered many facets of energy efficiency including thermal massing and passive heating and cooling.
LaTrobe MP Jason Wood and the school’s business manager were both invited to a presentation of their work.
Beaconhills College, Village Campus was one of nine projects chosen around Australia from more than 50 submissions.
Project topics addressed issues including climate change, renewable energy, recycling and conservation.
Professor Alec Tzannes, UNSW Built Environment Dean, said the Sustainable Living Challenge helped young people develop the skills and knowledge to respond to the many significant issues involved in sustainable development.
“The acceptance of the reality of climate change and the need to better understand how we can shift towards sustainable living demands a new set of skills and experiences of young people, their teachers and their schools,” Professor Tzannes said.
Beaconhills Year 9 maths and science teacher Helen Comport said the school has on its plans to build a Year 9 centre, so students incorporated this into their project.
“The students were set the task to research how the design of buildings could reduce energy needs,” Ms Comport said.
“The students came up with many innovative ideas which the college will, where practical, include in the New Year 9 centre providing the cost is within budget.”
Andrew Wiener, Sustainable Living Challenge National Director, said the program connected with young people’s enthusiasm for protecting the environment and thinking about the long-term consequences of impacts on the planet.
“Through engagement with high school students, we can work with teachers across the country to help ensure that development will inherently be sustainable,” he said.
“By the time they reach an age where decisions they make, particularly relating to the built environment, will have profound effects on the environment, young people will be prepared to address related issues.”