St Augustine’s National School Clontuskert, Ballinasloe, Co Galway and Kinsale Community School, Co.Cork have been announced as the winners of the inaugural Schools Sustainability Project competition, an SSE Airtricity and Microsoft Ireland initiative that aims to create awareness among primary and post-primary students about renewable energy, sustainability and biodiversity, and technology and innovation.The Schools Sustainability Project competition is the most recent project that SSE Airtricity and Microsoft Ireland have partnered on as part of their Solar for Schools programme. Launched in 2020, the renewable energy programme enables schools to power classrooms using energy generated from their own roof, helping them to reduce their carbon footprint, and their energy costs.With an investment of close to one million euro, the partnership involved the rollout, installation and management of internet-connected solar panels in 29 primary and post-primary schools, which are connected via Azure IoT to Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing platform. The panels installed across all 29 locations have the combined power to generate enough electricity for 68 Irish homes for a full year.A key objective of the project was to show students first-hand how they can play a part in combatting climate change. Digital screens were installed as part of the project to show the school’s energy use in real time, allowing students to see the impact of the energy efficiency upgrades and helping them and the wider school community to better understand their consumption and how they can become more energy-efficient, while also further reducing their emissions.Following the initial installation, SSE Airtricity and Microsoft Ireland committed to the delivery of an education program to primary and post-primary schools involved in the project. It was from this commitment that the Schools Sustainability Project competition was born.As part of the Schools Sustainability competition, schools from Connacht, Munster, and Leinster took part in a three-module course on renewable energy, sustainability, biodiversity, technology and innovation. Following these modules, project submissions were made demonstrating the efforts of the schools to improve the environment.Winning primary school, St Augustine’s National School Clontuskert in Ballinasloe, Galway, undertook a series of activities to help improve the environment including installing a bug hotel to increase biodiversity; installing an environmentally friendly sewage treatment plant; successfully petitioning to change waste management symbols in Ireland and being the first school in Ireland to receive the Climate Action School of Excellence Award.Students from winning post-primary, Kinsale Community School, Co. Cork undertook a Save the Bees initiative, planting a biodiversity orchard and a hedgerow in their school to provide food for bees and other pollinators, and fruit for birds. They will also provide local organic food for the school’s Home Economics department and raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity and the climate crisis.Prize for Schools Sustainability Project CompetitionIn a prize-giving held at both schools, a sustainability grant worth €2,500 from Microsoft Ireland was awarded to each school, with each participating student also receiving a computer Tablet worth €100 from the SSE Airtricity eStore.Following the prize-giving, Fergal Ahern, Head of Business Development, SSE Airtricity said: “SSE Airtricity is proud to be Ireland’s largest provider of 100% green energy. Providing renewable energy solutions is in our DNA and we are delighted to partner with Microsoft Ireland on this educational schools’ competition that engages primary and post-primary students and gets them thinking about the impact they can make on the environment whilst helping them to develop and implement sustainable options for their schools.“The pupils of St Augustine N.S. Clontuskert and Kinsale Communi...