College Newsletter Issue 4 / 3 November 2017 •
From the Principal How “Green” is St Andrews The “tip of the iceberg”, of course, is a common expression. How often do we arrive at a familiar destination, though not see it beyond what is immediately familiar to us. For a parent and in the context of a school, that may be Reception/ Administration, your child’s classroom, perhaps the library and the assembly hall. In contrast, we rarely see or even know of what’s happening behind the scenes. At St Andrews, it is easy to identify that we operate in an idyllic environment, surrounded by bushland and the majestic backdrop of the hills of the hinterland, all within not much more than a stone’s throw from the ocean. How blessed we are! What is not so readily identifiable is the initiatives and infrastructure that underscore our operation. A visitor recently reflected that we are such a “green” school. Whilst she meant that as a comment on our physical surrounding, it equally occurs to me that we have also consciously become a “greener” school in terms of ecological conservation and sustainability. The following, notes things we have achieved in the period 2015-17 in that regard. Personally, I think we are rating a B+, well on the way to an A! I hope you find it interesting. In future editions of the Newsletter and Bulletins, we hope to make a column of ‘Did You Knows…?’ a regular feature. •
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Installation of a 200kw solar system which will save the College over $70,000 per annum. The outcome of this system will be evaluated to see if the installation of a solar fed battery system is feasible to take several buildings off the grid completely. More significantly, the system provides us with the software for students to analyse real-time data on the production and consumption of energy, significantly enhancing learning experiences. Maximised the power factor correction to the electrical supply to the College. This effectively ensures that most (if not all) of our equipment runs on clean power, thereby reducing the draw from the grid that our equipment needs to operate. Paper and cardboard recycling equating to 156m3 of paper waste per annum. 10 Water tanks – collectively hold 210,000 litres of water which is used for filling toilets and irrigation of the ovals. Carpet in J Block made from 79-80% recycled content (recovered fishing nets) and using 100% carbon offset program for the entire lifecycle of the product.
Automated processes which have reduced our “snail mail” consumables by more than 50%. • All redevelopment and renovations have been built to current environmental building codes to ensure that the lighting, heating and cooling requirements are minimized. • Installation of 90 street bollards that are recycled from 2,500 recycled plastic shopping bags each, which have effectively taken at least 225,000 bags out of landfill. • During renovations, the College has installed LED lighting to replace existing fluorescent lighting. • Air Conditioning systems are being retro fitted with temperature and timing limiting devices. • Use of sustainable and accredited waste disposal services for chemicals, paints, herbicides, and pesticides. • Huntergreen Cleaning Chemicals – • Huntergreen is a program originally developed to assist businesses to build, implement and manage a green cleaning program whilst maintaining a high cleaning standard. • The Huntergreen program is proactive and purchasing decisions and care for the environmental impact on the College site has been carefully considered. Peace and Grace David Bliss Principal
Chaplains Chat Protestant Christianity around the globe has been celebrating the 500th Anniversary of the reformation during the month of October. Lutheran Colleges across South East Queensland have joined in the festivities in various ways. Here at St Andrews we were blessed to be able to display a private collection of historical Biblical transcripts and other associated artefacts from the time of the Reformation and before. Some of these items dated back to the 1200s and were remarkably well preserved - to the point where the students wondered if they were really from 800 years ago. What we fail to realise in our modern time is just how precious books were before the printing press was invented. This would be one of the factors that has led to the incredible preservation of very these old manuscripts. The power of words and in particular God’s Word - the Bible, is immeasurable. Martin Luther reflected that he did not personally bring about any change or reform! It was all