Galway company helping EU schools manage energy use

A Galway company is supplying the software for a new EU project for energy-efficient schools.

Enerit, based in Parkmore West Business Park, is a key member of the EU VERYSchool project. VERYSchool is an EU-funded consortium of 13 organisations, representing nine countries, including Ireland, which are collaborating to help schools meet EU energy efficiency targets.

The company’s software as a service (SAAS) product enables large energy users such as factories, airports, and other large industrial facilities to implement the international standard in energy management, ISO 50001.

Enerit’s Chief Operations Officer, Mike Brogan, has said that being involved in the Europe-wide consortium presents a great networking opportunity for the company, as well as funding research and development which will allow Enerit to expand its product offering to smaller energy users.

The VERYSchool project is currently running pilot energy management programmes in four schools across Italy, Portugal, and Bulgaria. If these prove successful, the methodologies developed in these four schools could be applied further afield.

Likely markets for Enerit’s SAAS product would be in countries like Italy, where all the schools within a given region are run by one entity, rather than individually, as is often the case in Ireland.

The company has, however, undertaken a survey of the energy management needs of Irish schools, and hopes to present their results and the outcomes of the VERYSchool project to both the Department of Education and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.

The company currently employs ten people, but with the expansion possibilities afforded by Enerit’s involvement in VERYSchool and another EU-funded project, CASCADE, Mr Brogan said they hope to increase this number shortly. “We’re looking to build our team further over the next year,” he said.

For more information, visit www.enerit.com.