Johann Strauss Primary School

Innovative Pilot Project by Dedicated Students

The Johann-Strauß Elementary School in Berlin is home to what are likely the youngest in-house energy consultants around: “TeamEnergy.” TeamEnergy consists of dedicated students in grades 5 and 6 whose goal is to combat energy waste at their school. As part of their classroom project, they are working together to analyze their school’s energy consumption and publish well-researched suggestions on how the school in Marzahn-Hellersdorf can save energy. In their search for solutions, the children identified a particularly quick and effective solution: DEOS TEO.

Retrofitting with DEOS

The school administration and the district energy management team supported TeamEnergy’s proposal, thereby enabling an initial test run in two selected classrooms at the school.

A total of six battery-free, wireless DEOS TEO radiator thermostats were installed, and one additional room was equipped with wireless window contacts. Furthermore, the school community can now monitor the functionality and energy savings of the new thermostats via the IoT/cloud platform (DEOS pro.Building Suite). The DEOS SAM wireless indoor air quality indicator was also integrated into one of the classrooms and now displays the current indoor air quality in the classroom via a three-level traffic light system.

Working together with the custodian, the student group, and the teachers involved, new heating settings were established to reduce energy consumption.

Positive Results After the Test Phase

Shortly after the new thermostats were put into operation, the first positive results were evident: energy savings of between 30 and 70 percent! Until now, the school had been heated to a constant 20 degrees even at night, on weekends, and during school breaks. Thanks to the calendar and time program of the maintenance-free radiator thermostats, heating time was reduced from 168 to 50 hours per week, and the target temperature on weekends was lowered from 21 to 16 degrees.

Armed with this compelling data, the team sent a letter to the responsible district councilor, Stefan Bley, and is expecting a forward-looking decision from the district council to equip the entire school with these efficient thermostats. The letter has already been acknowledged by the district office and marks a significant step in the fight against energy waste in schools.