On Tuesday, Kyle DuMont and Jacqueline Johnson’s grade 7/8 split classes had an afternoon of fun while touring the Western Development Museum and learning about the Smarter Science Better Buildings program from the Saskatchewan Environmental Society. 

The students learned about the different types of energy accessible in our province and how they’re used in homes and other places. 

calssMultiple different workstations were set up for the students.

Each station had information about a specific topic in energy. The stations were labelled as follows: Building Materials, Retrofits, Solar, Water, Net Zero Home, and Lighting & Appliances.

“I feel that I’ve learned quite a bit,” explains grade 8 student, Toby Wood. “I have learned things about the differences between how houses are today, compared to how they were in the past, like in the late 1800s.” 

While half the students were at the workstations, the other half toured the museum.

wdmStudents answered questions about energy usage in the old days.

WDM Programs and Volunteer Coordinator, Karla Rasmussen, talked about how Ecole Connaught Community School got this opportunity.

"In early January, beginning of February, schools are invited to apply for the program, so they go online, they fill out their application form, and then they can indicate if they would like to apply for the subsidy."

From there, the applications get sent to the Saskatchewan Environmental Society.

"They do the calculations based on how many schools are interested in coming, the distances involved, and this year I believe, all of the buses were funded because of the sponsorship from Sask Energy."

Saskatchewan Energy Customer Solutions Leader, Temi Onita, also gave a presentation about their program.

"The Smarter Science Better Buildings program, as well as Saskatchewan Environmental Society, is all about energy efficiency within the province," says Onita. "Sask Energy is really big on energy efficiency solutions... [In] 2019 through 2020, Sask Energy has invested 8.8 million dollars in rebaits for efficient equipment in the province."

Over 1600 customers applied for rebates last year.

You can learn more about the Saskatchewan Environmental Society here.