Schools are normally the ones dishing out the lessons – but three secondary schools in Portugal’s capital city (pictured) have been taught how to cut their energy use by a quarter.

The saving was part of a pilot project to control and monitor energy use at the Lisbon schools which are made up of ten buildings and serve 3,600 students and staff.

They had energy use from all new IT equipment monitored centrally, from air conditioning and lighting to ICT devices, according to energy management software firm Verdiem which was involved in setting up the project.

The pilot has already cut ICT energy use by 25 % from devices such as PCs, IP phones, wireless access points, IP video cameras and network switches.

Teachers and students are also going to get displays of real-time energy data as an “educational tool” at the schools to promote energy saving.

The Portuguese firm responsible for modernising Portuguese secondary schools, Parque Escolar is beginning a drive to make every school in the country carbon neutral and energy self-sufficient.

It says the scheme has meant “greater energy efficiency and important cost savings” for Portugal’s schools while at the same time helping people change behaviour towards being ‘green’.

The project was put in place by Verdiem, tech and energy services firm Schneider Electric and IT experts Cisco.