Take a look inside Sing Yin Secondary School, one of the world's greenest
For a Kwun Tong school named one of the world's most eco-friendly, the high cost of installing energy-saving devices is money well spent, writes Andrea Chen
A pair of structures resembling giant light bulbs are among several devices that catch the eye on the roofs of Sing Yin Secondary School. The clear domes, fitted with a heliostat that tracks the movement of the sun, collect sunlight and direct it via optical fibre to the floor below to illuminate a physics laboratory - a system that requires no electricity.
Essentially a solar light tube system, the "bulbs" are among various advanced energy-saving devices that led to the Kwun Tong school being named one of the 2013 Greenest Schools on Earth at the annual congress of the World Green Building Council last month.
When the devices were installed in 2011, they were the first of their kind in Hong Kong. The two solar tube systems, which cost HK$350,000 each, were imported from Japan as the technology was not yet available here. The illumination they provide, however, is often less than the power from four 40-watt electric bulbs costing no more than HK$35.
All the same, Sing Yin's headmaster, Kwok But, reckons the energy-saving installations are a worthwhile investment.
"I often tell my students: be prepared to pay more if you want to protect the environment," Kwok says. "Someone needs to start using them [energy-saving devices] to bring the cost down."
It has taken a small fortune to put Sing Yin at the forefront of green construction. When the government decided in 2008 to build the city's first environmental demonstration school, Sing Yin, which had been set to move into a new campus, was selected to be the model.
