Walter Baierl from Weiz leads the training of energy smarties with enthusiasm and innovation. Over 29,000 children and young people across Austria have already taken part. A successful project that is unparalleled.
WEIZ/STYRIA. For 18 years, young energy smarties have been conquering classrooms across Styria. The term “energy smarties” developed by Baierl is also a trademark registered with the Austrian Patent Office. What once began as a small initiative in the town of Weiz is now a program that is making waves not only regionally, but also throughout Austria. Walter Baierl and his energy agency Baierl in Weiz have launched the educational project and a completely new teaching concept developed to inspire children and young people to learn about energy and energy saving. Self-developed experiment boards Energy is made “tangible” in a playful way.
“I have always enjoyed working with children. It is fantastic that I was able to combine my extensive experience in energy technology with the joy of passing on knowledge,” says Walter Baierl
A football stadium full of “energy smarties”
The numbers speak for themselves: In this school year alone, 230 children in primary schools, 53 children in kindergartens and 40 young people in the polytechnic school received the coveted “Energy Smartie” certificate. Over the last 18 years, a total of 3,939 young people in Weiz trained – this corresponds to around 33 percent of the population of Weiz. Across Austria, there are an impressive 29,219 energy smarties. “You could fill the large football stadium ‘Merkur-Arena’ in Graz twice with energy smarties,” says Baierl happily.
The success of the project would not have been possible without the Cooperation with the state energy supplier Energie Steiermark unthinkable. In the last twelve years, 17,587 children in Styria have been educated in this way. In the last school year alone, 117 primary school classes took advantage of the offer, which shows that interest in the training remains high.
Awards give a lot of energy
Walter Baierls Engagement and his tireless commitment to energy children and youth work were awarded honored with numerous awards. Among other things, he won the coveted „Energy Globe Award Styria“ and „Energy Globe Austria“ in the youth category. The Solidarpreis 2018 of the Weiz-Gleisdorf Solidarity Region adorns his impressive portfolio of awards. Baierl is particularly proud of the „Teachers Award“, with whom he became “Austria’s Educators of the Year” in the category of elementary education.
Children’s enthusiasm and curiosity
Through the innovative training of young energy smarties® and the active support of committed partners, the municipality of Weiz succeeds in not only creating a Awareness of sustainable energy use to create, but also to pave the way for an environmentally conscious future. Walter Baierl and his energy agency show that big changes often begin in small steps. With the enthusiasm and curiosity of children as the driving force, the future is in good hands. In the interview he explains exactly how he passes on his knowledge.
- What topics do you discuss with the children?
Walter Baierl: The content of the projects is very diverse. For example, we work on the energy efficiency of household appliances, saving energy when boiling water or lighting. All of this is done with scientific tests and, of course, experiments are also a must.
- How do you get children excited about saving energy?
With many practical experiments and specially designed experimental boards, where the playful element plays an important role. For example, with a photovoltaic experiment kit you can even hear the sun, and you can acoustically understand the effect of different orientations of the solar module to the sun and the shadow cast. Energy saving experiments the potential saving in kilowatt hours (kWh) and money is determined by measuring and calculating. The saving is converted into the Currency for “energy smarties” EKE, the abbreviation for ice cream scoop units, This will give you an even better idea of the amount you can save.
- What is most fascinating for the children about the workshops?
I have noticed that the children like it when they Explore the topics yourself with unique experiment stations I have built some experiment stations out of Lego bricks and packed the “technology” into them. This immediately overcomes the inhibition threshold to technology, the children’s first reaction is “Ah, Lego!”, which is immediately associated with “I know that”. Curiosity develops immediately as to what there is to explore in the Lego box. A highlight is always the Ceremonial certificate presentation at the end of the project. All participants receive an “Energy Smarty” certificate, which the children are always very proud of.
- What do children say? Is energy being used sensibly at home? Where is there room for improvement?
Most of the children who talk about this are from households where the topic of energy and energy saving is also a topic at home. Interestingly, it is precisely these children who are already thinking a lot with their parents and are proud when energy is consciously saved or there is even a photovoltaic system at home. Most children are very interested in the topics covered in project lessons and share their findings with their parents. The children receive the results of the lessons – Worksheets that I call “feel-good sheets” – take them home, show them to their parents and discuss the findings – this is exactly what I want to achieve.
Energy saving tips from Walter Baierl
- At the Purchase of household appliances definitely on the Indication of energy efficiency class pay attention, whereby the energy efficiency classes have been redefined since September 2021. The previous best energy efficiency classes A+++ or A++ no longer exist, now there is a general categorization of energy efficiency classes A to G. At first glance, the current devices now appear to be less energy efficient, since, for example, a refrigerator that previously had energy efficiency class A++ now has energy efficiency class D. The EU wants to ensure that developers and manufacturers make even more effort to build devices that consume even less energy than is currently the case – the goal is less than 60 percent than before.
- One to boil water, should definitely Kettle preference This is better than using an electric stove and cooking pot. The energy consumption is almost twice as high as with an electric stove.
- For household and electronic appliances, Stand-by consumption through complete Disconnect from power supply when not in use (eg switchable distribution board). Experience shows that with current electricity prices, you can save 50 to 100 euros per year on television sets with peripheral devices (satellite receiver, Sky box, external speakers, etc.)!
- At Refrigerators the thermostat to an internal temperature of 5-7 degrees Celsius When buying freezers, make sure that actual size requirements and the Energy efficiency class Instead of a 230-litre freezer, you could consider two freezers of 115 litres each. Depending on the season, you could manage with one freezer depending on volume requirements and switch off the second one completely.
- Although the Energy consumption of lighting in a household accounts for “only” about 10 percent, it is easy to switch off unnecessary lights immediately. When buying new lamps, only more LED lighting are used. These lamps usually only use 10-15 percent of the energy compared to incandescent lamps and only about 50 percent compared to energy-saving lamps. Immediately replacing a light bulb, a halogen lamp or an energy-saving lamp with an LED lamp is always worth it at current prices, even if the old lamp is still functional! Note: Since autumn 2021, only LED lamps may be manufactured in the EU (with the exception of halogen lamps for vehicles). The production of all other types of lamps has been prohibited!
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