Kinda Cooling

The Kinda Cooling project was an initiative from the Moreland Energy Foundation to help make kindergarten buildings more comfortable, particularly in summer. MEFL worked with kindergarten staff and committees, to identify actions they could take to reduce their energy bills, in turn reducing greenhouse emissions, and keep children and staff cool and comfortable during the warmer months.

Since the project started MEFL has worked with Fawkner, Glenroy North, Oak Park, Glen Oak, Brunswick North-West and Brunswick kindergartens.

The Kinda Cooling project received funding from Sustainability Victoria and Moreland City Council to implement a number of recommendations.

Some of the actions taken include:

MEFL now takes on the role of assisting centre's to track their energy bills to assess the savings in both dollars and greenhouse emissions.

Case study
MEFL has worked with the Brunswick Kindergarten to assist in the development of an energy efficient cooling plan for the main building, and to raise awareness of energy and greenhouse issues with the kindergarten community.

The kindergarten chose to make some passive cooling changes such as blinds on north facing windows, fans, cross ventilation and night purging. In addition, the large tin roof was painted with a heat reflective paint (donated by Taubmans) to reduce heat gain into the building. This approach was more energy-efficient and cost-saving for the community-run kindergarten than the alternative of installing an air-conditioner with high capital and on-going energy costs. The cooling plan was put into action over summer and has been very successful.

Said teacher Rose: "the room keeps cooler and more comfortable than it's been for the past 4 years I've worked here"

It has been an exciting opportunity for MEFL to work with this community group and for the Brunswick Kindergarten to receive support in improving their facilities, at the same time keeping their summer electricity bills down.