Notre Dame Girls' School to cut its carbon emissions

Notre Dame Roman Catholic Girls' School has cut its emissions by installing improved heating controls, lighting controls, motion sensors and insulation around exposed pipes.

The sponsor is Victoria Embankment-based Rogge Global Partners, an international firm of specialist bond managers, who approached Southwark Council with a £10,000 donation. The offer was based on the money being allocated to a school to install carbon-saving measures to offset a proportion of Rogge's annual London emissions.

Hi-tech lighting sensors have been installed which automatically turn lighting on or off depending on whether the area is occupied.

Another new device the school is using is an external lighting timer to activate the security lighting when it gets dark and eliminate the problem of lights being left on during weekends and holidays. This saves power, as well as making it safer and better-lit for pupils.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for Notre Dame School to reduce its carbon footprint and help highlight the importance of reducing emissions," says Cllr Lisa Rajan, executive member for environment.

"As part of the Eco Schools programme, Notre Dame is already well on its way to becoming a truly sustainable school.

"Global warming is one of the single biggest challenges which we all face and it's great to see schools and businesses working together in this way to tackle it head on. I'm very grateful to Rogge for making this possible and I know that the staff and pupils at Notre Dame are also.

"I hope that this is the first of many such positive partnerships between Southwark schools and the business community to address this major issue."

Installation of the new eco-friendly measures started in February and will continue to be introduced at Notre Dame throughout this year.