IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i14p10998-d1193430.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Driving Sustainable Practices in Vocational Education Infrastructure: A Case Study from Latvia

Author

Listed:
  • Ģirts Bohvalovs

    (Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Faculty of Electrical and Environmental Engineering, Riga Technical University, Azenes Street 12/1, LV-1048 Riga, Latvia)

  • Antra Kalnbaļķīte

    (Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Faculty of Electrical and Environmental Engineering, Riga Technical University, Azenes Street 12/1, LV-1048 Riga, Latvia)

  • Ieva Pakere

    (Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Faculty of Electrical and Environmental Engineering, Riga Technical University, Azenes Street 12/1, LV-1048 Riga, Latvia)

  • Ruta Vanaga

    (Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Faculty of Electrical and Environmental Engineering, Riga Technical University, Azenes Street 12/1, LV-1048 Riga, Latvia)

  • Vladimirs Kirsanovs

    (Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Faculty of Electrical and Environmental Engineering, Riga Technical University, Azenes Street 12/1, LV-1048 Riga, Latvia)

  • Dace Lauka

    (Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Faculty of Electrical and Environmental Engineering, Riga Technical University, Azenes Street 12/1, LV-1048 Riga, Latvia)

  • Toms Prodaņuks

    (Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Faculty of Electrical and Environmental Engineering, Riga Technical University, Azenes Street 12/1, LV-1048 Riga, Latvia)

  • Krista Laktuka

    (Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Faculty of Electrical and Environmental Engineering, Riga Technical University, Azenes Street 12/1, LV-1048 Riga, Latvia)

  • Kristiāna Doļģe

    (Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Faculty of Electrical and Environmental Engineering, Riga Technical University, Azenes Street 12/1, LV-1048 Riga, Latvia)

  • Zigmārs Zundāns

    (Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Faculty of Electrical and Environmental Engineering, Riga Technical University, Azenes Street 12/1, LV-1048 Riga, Latvia)

  • Ingūna Brēmane

    (Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Faculty of Electrical and Environmental Engineering, Riga Technical University, Azenes Street 12/1, LV-1048 Riga, Latvia)

  • Dagnija Blumberga

    (Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Faculty of Electrical and Environmental Engineering, Riga Technical University, Azenes Street 12/1, LV-1048 Riga, Latvia)

  • Andra Blumberga

    (Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Faculty of Electrical and Environmental Engineering, Riga Technical University, Azenes Street 12/1, LV-1048 Riga, Latvia)

Abstract

A vital component of achieving climate neutrality in the future involves bolstering energy efficiency measures in educational institutions and improving the overall knowledge on sustainable solutions. To achieve fruitful outcomes, the active involvement of various stakeholders, such as managers, teaching staff, and students, is indispensable. By implementing energy-efficient building systems, advancing the use of renewable energy sources, and incorporating sustainable practices into the curriculum, educational institutions can decrease their environmental impact and conserve resources for future generations. Active participation from all stakeholders, including managers, teaching staff, and students, is essential for the success of these efforts. Providing students with a comprehensive education on sustainability equips them to apply this knowledge in their future professions, thus contributing to a more sustainable society. To gain insights into the existing state of sustainability within educational systems, a comprehensive study of educational institutions was undertaken. To assess and compare schools’ sustainability, a composite indicator was developed. The study’s findings reveal that the implementation of mandatory and optional measures can lead to a substantial reduction in primary energy consumption by 39% and greenhouse gas emissions by 34% in educational institutions. The average abandonment costs for mandatory measures are 5.87 EUR/kgCO 2 /year, but the average value for optional measures is 33.80 EUR/kgCO 2 /year. It is suggested demonstration projects be implemented in institutions where specialists in RE, mechatronics, building engineering systems, and environmental technologies are trained by showcasing technologies needed for the transition to climate neutrality.

Suggested Citation

  • Ģirts Bohvalovs & Antra Kalnbaļķīte & Ieva Pakere & Ruta Vanaga & Vladimirs Kirsanovs & Dace Lauka & Toms Prodaņuks & Krista Laktuka & Kristiāna Doļģe & Zigmārs Zundāns & Ingūna Brēmane & Dagnija Blum, 2023. "Driving Sustainable Practices in Vocational Education Infrastructure: A Case Study from Latvia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-16, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:14:p:10998-:d:1193430
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/14/10998/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/14/10998/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Todd D. Gerarden & Richard G. Newell & Robert N. Stavins, 2017. "Assessing the Energy-Efficiency Gap," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1486-1525, December.
    2. Samuel De Alencar Bezerra & Francisco Jackson dos Santos & Plácido Rogerio Pinheiro & Fábio Rocha Barbosa, 2017. "Dynamic Evaluation of the Energy Efficiency of Environments in Brazilian University Classrooms Using DEA," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Kenneth Gillingham & Richard G. Newell & Karen Palmer, 2009. "Energy Efficiency Economics and Policy," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 597-620, September.
    4. Sam Fankhauser, 2017. "Adaptation to Climate Change," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 209-230, October.
    5. Ping Han & Zepeng Tong & Yan Sun & Xuefeng Chen, 2022. "Impact of Climate Change Beliefs on Youths’ Engagement in Energy-Conservation Behavior: The Mediating Mechanism of Environmental Concerns," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-16, June.
    6. Sam Fankhauser, 2017. "Adaptation to Climate Change," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 209-230, October.
    7. Nassipkul Dyussembekova & Nazym Temirgaliyeva & Dias Umyshev & Madina Shavdinova & Reiner Schuett & Damesh Bektalieva, 2022. "Assessment of Energy Efficiency Measures’ Impact on Energy Performance in the Educational Building of Kazakh-German University in Almaty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-25, August.
    8. Jiaqi Zhang & Zepeng Tong & Zeyu Ji & Yuanchao Gong & Yan Sun, 2022. "Effects of Climate Change Knowledge on Adolescents’ Attitudes and Willingness to Participate in Carbon Neutrality Education," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-16, August.
    9. Niemelä, Tuomo & Kosonen, Risto & Jokisalo, Juha, 2016. "Cost-optimal energy performance renovation measures of educational buildings in cold climate," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 1005-1020.
    10. Henryson, Jessica & Hakansson, Teresa & Pyrko, Jurek, 2000. "Energy efficiency in buildings through information - Swedish perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 169-180, March.
    11. Carlo Jaeger, 2014. "Choice for China: What Role for Vocational Education in Green Growth?," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 22(5), pages 55-75, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Krista Laktuka & Antra Kalnbalkite & Liga Sniega & Kalvis Logins & Dace Lauka, 2023. "Towards the Sustainable Intensification of Aquaculture: Exploring Possible Ways Forward," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-28, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet & Anna Petronevich & Laurent Faucheux, 2018. "How do lenders price energy efficiency? Evidence from posted interest rates for unsecured credit in France [Comment les créditeurs valorisent-ils l'efficacité énergétique? Une analyse des taux d'in," Working Papers hal-01890636, HAL.
    2. Michel Beine & Ilan Noy & Christopher Parsons, 2021. "Climate change, migration and voice," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 1-27, July.
    3. Gregory Casey & Stephie Fried & Ethan Goode, 2023. "Projecting the Impact of Rising Temperatures: The Role of Macroeconomic Dynamics," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 71(3), pages 688-718, September.
    4. Natali Hritonenko & Victoria Hritonenko & Yuri Yatsenko, 2020. "Games with Adaptation and Mitigation," Games, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-16, December.
    5. Matilde Giaccherini & David H. Herberich & David Jimenez-Gomez & John A. List & Giovanni Ponti & Michael K. Price, 2019. "The Behavioralist Goes Door-To-Door: Understanding Household Technological Diffusion Using a Theory-Driven Natural Field Experiment," NBER Working Papers 26173, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Lisandra Flach & Johannes Pfeiffer & Karen Pittel, 2022. "Fairness und Eigeninteresse im internationalen Klimaschutz [Fairness and Self-Interest in International Climate Protection]," Wirtschaftsdienst, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 102(1), pages 12-20, May.
    7. Löschel, Andreas & Lutz, Benjamin Johannes & Massier, Philipp, 2017. "Credit constraints, energy management practices, and investments in energy saving technologies: German manufacturing in close-up," ZEW Discussion Papers 17-072, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    8. Sahrish Saeed & Muhammad Sohail Amjad Makhdum & Sofia Anwar & Muhammad Rizwan Yaseen, 2023. "Climate Change Vulnerability, Adaptation, and Feedback Hypothesis: A Comparison of Lower-Middle, Upper-Middle, and High-Income Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-25, February.
    9. Da Mata, Daniel & Emanuel, Lucas & Pereira, Vitor & Sampaio, Breno, 2023. "Climate adaptation policies and infant health: Evidence from a water policy in Brazil," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    10. Orestis Stavrakidis-Zachou & Konstadia Lika & Panagiotis Anastasiadis & Nikos Papandroulakis, 2021. "Projecting climate change impacts on Mediterranean finfish production: a case study in Greece," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 1-18, April.
    11. Heidi K. Edmonds & C. A. Knox Lovell & Julie E. Lovell, 2022. "The Inequities of National Adaptation to Climate Change," Resources, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-26, December.
    12. Achim Voss, 2019. "The Adverse Effect of Energy-Efficiency Policy," Working Papers 2019.13, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    13. Collins, Matthew & Curtis, John, 2017. "An examination of the abandonment of applications for energy efficiency retrofit grants in Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 260-270.
    14. George Halkos, 2022. "New Assessment Methods of Future Conditions for Main Vulnerabilities and Risks from Climate Change," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-5, October.
    15. Lucas Bretschger & Karen Pittel, 2020. "Twenty Key Challenges in Environmental and Resource Economics," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 77(4), pages 725-750, December.
    16. Brannlund, Johan & Dunbar, Geoffrey & Ellwanger, Reinhard & Krutkiewicz, Matthew, 2023. "Weather the storms? Resilience investment and production losses after hurricanes," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    17. Hochman, Gal & Timilsina, Govinda R., 2017. "Energy efficiency barriers in commercial and industrial firms in Ukraine: An empirical analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 22-30.
    18. Burlinson, Andrew & Giulietti, Monica & Battisti, Giuliana, 2018. "Technology adoption, consumer inattention and heuristic decision-making: Evidence from a UK district heating scheme," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10), pages 1873-1886.
    19. Das, Narasingha & Gangopadhyay, Partha & Alghamdi, Thamer & Sarwar, Suleman & Haseeb, Mohammad & Barut, Abdulkadir & Dey, Labani, 2023. "Understanding the role of efficiency in the electricity generation process for promoting human development in India: Findings from the novel multiple threshold nonlinear ARDL modelling," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    20. Yu, Yantuan & Chen, Xudong & Zhang, Ning, 2022. "Innovation and energy productivity: An empirical study of the innovative city pilot policy in China✰," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:14:p:10998-:d:1193430. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.