EcoRoute promoting exercise and carbon savings in schools
Carbon saving is not just for industry. Soon schools and their communities may be able to calculate their reductions too. EcoRoute is an innovative carbon saving project aimed at developing a biometric monitoring system that will motivate school children to exercise, keep healthy, and reduce CO2 emissions at the same time.
Martin Aitken, founder of EcoRoute, had the idea of incentivising carbon saving several years ago, but it was when he met Cambridge Design Partnership that the concept gained a new impetus. Support from the product development consultancy has helped EcoRoute to win one of the first Small Business Research Initiative contracts to be awarded in the East of England.
Martin explains, “School children simply aren’t taking enough exercise and 30% of our children are over-weight or obese, which is storing up health problems for their future and for the NHS. The concept we have created is a low cost gadget to monitor activity that will be fun for children to use and will tap into school-based social media so that children can motivate their friends.”
Cambridge Design Partnership works with developers of both consumer gadgets and medical devices, so provided a natural fit for EcoRoute. They were asked to create a miniature monitor and find a way of reducing the cost of production so that the monitor would be cheap enough to give away to school children.
Then the synergy between the companies began to spark new ideas that complemented Martin’s approach, as Warwick Bailey, Chairman of EcoRoute explains:
“We saw that a whole community approach would help provide the momentum needed to keep the children motivated. By cutting back on the use of cars to get to and from school, pupils would be reducing carbon dioxide emissions and would help their schools meet the targets they set themselves for their sustainable travel plans that became mandatory this year. Information captured by the monitors will allow the saving to be calculated automatically, making it easy for schools to administer the programme.”
Martin continues, “Until recently, the calculation of carbon saving has only been possible for large organisations. But the sophistication of the technology available from Cambridge Design Partnership means that there is no reason why schools and communities cannot calculate their carbon saving too. For children – and adults – to be able to see what their efforts have resulted in, can be a great motivator to do even better.”
EcoRoute has calculated that if 50 percent of primary schools in the East of England replaced 25 percent of their school runs with walking or cycling this would save 8.35 million vehicle miles or 3,105 tonnes of CO2 per annum*.
The project impressed the judges of the East of England SBRI competition who saw that it would also assist the long-term goals of the NHS to reduce the demands on services created by the obesity epidemic.
The SBRI contract will enable EcoRoute, with Cambridge Design Partnership as its technology partner, to take the project forward. It is to undertake a full consultation programme with pilot schools in the East of England and NHS clinicians, and build a demonstration system.
Martin adds, “I have been working on this project for some time but this contract will accelerate the development process. We are now looking for schools and other partners interested in participating in the pilot scheme.”
This work was commissioned by the Management Board of SBRI East and funded by NHS East of England, EEDA, ERDF and the Technology Strategy Board. The views expressed in the publication are those of the author(s) are not necessarily that of the funding partners.”
- ENDS -
*Carbon saving calculations
5-10 year olds in the East of England
For pupils less than 1 mile from school car trips represent 11% of journeys (38,400 one-way journeys)
Assuming an average of 3 journeys of half a mile per day to or from school (as some will lift share or will collect children on the way to or returning from work), this equates to 57,600 miles.
For children living 1-2 miles from school, car trips represent 17.6% of all journeys or 61,430 journeys one way. Assuming 3 journeys per day averaging 1.5 miles each, this equates to 276,435 miles.
If 25% of car journeys for these two distance brackets are converted to cycle trips at 50% of the primary schools in the East of England, this would reduce vehicle miles by 41,750 miles per day. With an average school year of 200 days, this is a saving of 8.35 million vehicle miles. At the urban cycle average of 28.23 mpg, this means a reduction in emissions of 3,105 tonnes of CO2 per annum.
Notes to Editor
About EcoRoute Ltd
EcoRoute is a start-up company in the newly emerging environmental and health fields of incentivised life-style choices. EcoRoute takes the ‘whole community’ approach in order to take advantage of the motivational effects of peer group pressure and support to encourage cycling, walking and physical exercise. It utilises the latest biometric advances to monitor and measure physical activity.
About Cambridge Design Partnership LLP
Cambridge Design Partnership is a successful research and development consultancy focused on creating value for our clients by converting ideas and technology into commercial success. Our clients come from medical, industrial and consumer industries and they have one thing in common: they see investment in innovation as fundamental to growth and competitive advantage. Working as an integrated team, we operate ahead of market change with a dynamic, flexible approach that leads to enduring client relationships, anchored by high quality work and excellent customer service. Our staff of engineers, scientists and designers has grown rapidly to establish a world leading reputation for technical excellence, astute project management and, above all, thinking differently.
About Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) East 2009
The new SBRI East competition is led by the NHS East of England with joint oversight from the other funding partners. The SBRI East is a cross-government programme for technology development projects including the demonstration and evaluation of new technologies. Funding for the SBRI East initiative has been provided by the NHS East of England, East of England Development Agency (EEDA), Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Companies were invited to submit ideas that could be turned into practical solutions to make a substantial difference in three priority areas:
• Managing Long-term Conditions - remote monitoring
• Patient Safety - improving health outcomes
• Keeping children active
Successful applicants needed to demonstrate that they would be contributing to carbon reduction. This could be through reduction in energy, travel, waste, water or building design. Innovations which reduced system inefficiency were very much welcomed.
The SBRI East 2009 competition will be run in two phases. Eleven projects have been awarded £100,000 each, of up to 6 months duration to fund Phase 1 feasibility projects. Successful projects will then be funded for Phase 2, comprising of up to 2 years work and between £250,000 - £750,000 in prototype development. Businesses will retain the Intellectual Property Rights generated from the project, with certain rights of use retained by the NHS.
Contact information
Mr Martin Aitken, Managing Director
EcoRoute Ltd
St John’s Innovation Centre
Cowley Road
Cambridge
CB4 0WS
t: 0845 313 8421
e: martin.aitken@
w: www.ecoroute.co.uk
Cambridge Design Partnership LLP
Church Road, Toft
Cambridgeshire
CB23 2RF
United Kingdom
t: +44 1223 264 428
e: news@cambridge-
w: www.cambridge-
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
