An Abu Dhabi-based school, the 2013 winner of the Zayed Future Energy Prize’s Global High Schools category for the Asia region, has boosted its sustainability project with the installation of rooftop solar systems.

 

The 11.52 KW grid-type smart photovoltaic system will aim to supply 30 percent of the Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Bangladesh Islamia School’s energy needs, mainly for lighting and cooling.

 

The Global High Schools prize awards $100,000 to one school from each of the five geographic regions - the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

 

Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Bangladesh Islamia School is the first UAE-based entity to receive the Zayed Future Energy Prize and the first school to win in the Global High School category for the Asia region.

 

Its prize-winning proposal outlines the school’s ambition to become carbon neutral through efficient cooling systems, grid-type smart photo-voltaic systems and solar batteries. The project also aims to achieve improved cooling throughout the school by integrating traditional Arab building methods.

 

To date, the school has implemented several sustainability measures including the installation of energy saving light bulbs. The effort has helped cut the school’s electricity consumption by 15 per cent and win an award from the UAE-based Sustainable Schools Initiative.

 

Zayed Future Energy Prize, the world’s preeminent award for excellence in renewable energy and sustainability, is a $4 million prize awarded annually to organizations, schools and individuals that have made significant contributions to the future of energy, sustainability and climate change. In five years, the Prize has awarded 21 innovators and impacted communities across the world.

 

Submissions for the sixth edition of the Prize will close on August 5. Winners will be announced at the Zayed Future Energy Prize awards ceremony scheduled to be held on January 20, 2014, as part of the annual Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.