BCIA announces winner of Schoolz Out Competition

The Building Controls Industry Association (BCIA) has announced the winner of its Schoolz Out competition, which challenged school pupils to design an energy saving product or initiative for their school which uses an element of control to save energy.

Seven year old Edgar Vann is the lucky winner of an iPad for his idea, which was based on a solar powered system designed to save water by collecting rain water to use in place of mains water. Edgar included a diagram of how the system would work at his school, with the headteacher being able to operate a heating system for the collected water from their office.

Edgar said: “I enjoyed designing our energy saving school and I hope things like this will change the future.”

Solar power was a popular theme amongst the entries, with other designs including a solar powered fan control system and a solar powered, roof mounted weather station that controlled the school’s heating system.

Terry Sharp, BCIA President, said: “I was really impressed with the standard of entries, which have shown just how switched on many school children are about the environment. I would like to congratulate Edgar on his well deserved win and thank everybody who took part in the competition. The judging panel had a very tough job in deciding the winner and it was great to get an early glimpse at the future talent that could one day become key figures in our industry.”