Free learning tools for energy-efficiency skills

Schneider Electric is encouraging Australians to sign up to its free, e-learning online Energy University to learn about the latest energy-efficient solutions and energy management practices to help save money, reduce emissions and increase business efficiency.

With energy demand set to double by 2050 and energy prices forecast to increase by 51% in 2012, energy management is becoming the number one issue for business and consumers to navigate.

“Australian businesses and individuals have a compelling reason to learn how to better manage their energy use,” said Phil Ridler, General Manager, Energy Management and Solutions, Schneider Electric Pacific. “As Australia moves to a low-carbon economy, there will be increasing pressure to apply energy-efficiency improvements to business operations and personal lives.

“As a company we can provide any number of solutions, products and support, but our belief is that the greatest impact that can be made on sustainability and energy management is through increased awareness and education which, over time, will result in behaviour change.”

Ali Fareed, Electrical Engineer at AMEC Minproc, has completed six of the Energy University courses online. He explains: “The Schneider Electric Energy University courses I enrolled in were very good. They were informative, well designed, easy to use and provided me and my colleagues with a lot of information.

“I completed courses on energy management and automation and am now in a much stronger position to advise my mining customers on the energy-efficient products available and the cost benefits of each. Our customers are starting to ask questions about energy management and it’s important that we have a detailed knowledge and understanding of the new developments in this space.

“The Energy University is well designed for professionals with a degree of technical knowledge and my aim is to complete the entire program by the end of the year. To have such high-quality facilities available for free online, which I can complete at my own pace, has been really valuable to me.”

Students of the Energy University range from professional engineers, sustainability and operations managers to university students. The Schneider Electric program, which is vendor and product neutral, offers more than 50 courses in nine languages to over 53,000 users worldwide. Courses cover the whole spectrum of energy management across industry, buildings, homes and data centres and range from energy audit instrumentation and energy procurement, to building automation systems, data centre efficiencies and industry insulation.

“The Energy University is proving its worth as a flexible learning portal where individuals can tailor their curriculum to suit their needs and the online resource is an easy way to stay up to date with the key energy management trends and issues,” Ridler said.

Energy University is available on-demand anytime at www.MyEnergyUniversity.com.