A Dubai school is not only teaching students about man's impact on the environment but also doing something about reducing its own carbon footprint - making big savings in energy costs at the same time.

Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS) is responsible for and slashing bills by more than Dh300,000 (almost $82,000) a year. Energy saving measures being installed this month are forecast to cut by up to 300,000 kilogrammes the amount of carbon dioxide emissions, said an official spokesman.

Like many schools, JESS has a swimming pool popular with students in the hot summer months. But cooling the pool leads to heavy use of energy, the production of which means emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) - the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming.

Award-winning energy conservation company Farnek Avireal, which has been advising international hotels, building owners and major companies on how they can dramatically cut their utility bills, came up with the simple plan for the school to help the planet and cut costs.

'Kids love to jump into a cool pool in the summer, it's refreshing and good fun,' said general manager of Avireal Middle East Markus Oberlin. 'The flipside is that cooling the water means using a lot of energy and, consequently, the production of CO2.'

Avireal's simple solution is the fitting of its Energy Saving Modules to the pool's chillers and the installation of an insulated pool cover.

With the modules fitted to the chillers and the pool cover installed, JESS will reduce its energy consumption by up to 700,000 kilowatt hours, reduce CO2 emissions by up to 300,000 kilogrammes and save more than Dh300,000 a year, said Avireal.

JESS director Robert D Stokoe said the school cares about environmental issues and its new buildings are state-of-the-art to avoid energy losses.

'When Farnek Avireal came with a solution to reduce even further our energy consumption with a payback time of only 14 months, we agreed immediately,' he added.

Dubai, with one of the world's biggest carbon footprints on a per person basis, has embarked on a major programme to cut energy consumption.  Average individual electricity usage in Dubai is said to be 20,000 kilowatt hours per annum and 130 gallons of water daily, among cities with the highest consumption per person in the world.

Avireal last year won an Emirates Energy Award after conducting a survey which showed five-star hotels in Dubai use up to 225 per cent more energy than their counterparts in Europe.

Two of the world's leading premium hotel chains - Movenpick and Swissôtel - have since brought in Avireal's auditing system to help them to go green by trimming their energy and water costs and reduce CO2 emissions across their properties. - TradeArabia News Service