Sustainability Begins in the Classroom
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The ninth annual Green California Summit wrapped up last week with a special emphasis on promoting sustainability in schools and the potential benefits of Proposition 39 for educational facilities.
A day of pre-summit workshops kicked off activities April 7, which included a daylong seminar dedicated to providing education and resources on Prop 39. The proposition promises to bring more than $2.5 billion to California schools for energy-efficiency projects, has the potential to enable every local education agency to progress toward more efficient and healthier facilities, and to help schools save money that can be invested in teachers, supplies and other aspects of program delivery.
The California Energy Commission recently approved the first set of Prop 39 plans for Temecula Valley Charter School, Temecula Preparatory Academy, Alameda County Office of Education and Santa Rita Union Elementary School District.
"Optimizing energy use in schools can save them money and improve the learning environment for students," said Andrew McAllister, energy commissioner. "The commission’s goal is to enable schools to identify good projects and put together a plan, and then expedite the funding approval so construction can begin."
The presentation at the Green California Summit detailed proposal preparation and submittal, provided insight as to which projects are most likely to be approved and best practices that will enable project leaders to make the most of their funds. Speakers at the workshop included Marcia Smith, program director for Prop 39 Implementation at the California Energy Commission; Bob Chase, deputy state architect; Bill McNamara, director of Energy Programs at the California Conservation Corp; Tim Rainey, executive director of the California Workforce Investment Board; Jim Kelsey, founding principal of kW Engineering; and Ariel Dekovic, senior program manager from the Collaborative for High Performance Schools.
The first official day of the summit welcomed more than 80 exhibitors to share their most recent innovations with green builders and stakeholders. The full-day exhibition welcomed organizations such as CalRecycle, the California Conservation Corps, Green Charge Networks, Lunera Lighting, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and USGBC California.
The education programs of the day included the sessions Healthier Schools By Design: EPD and HPD for the Future, which focused on the need for healthy building materials in schools, and a presentation by Stephen Kelley, senior vice president of Green Charge Networks, which discussed how cities, counties, K-12 schools and community colleges are using energy storage to reduce peak demand costs. The first summit day also continued its emphasis of Prop 39 with an educational session concerning how school districts can leverage Prop 39 funding to maximize return on investment, energy reduction and create continual reinvestment.
The Green California Summit also presented their annual Leadership Awards. The awards honor outstanding environmental achievements in eight categories to recognize state and local government projects implemented in California in 2013.
Yolo County was one such award recipient. The county was recognized for a 5.8 MW ground-mounted, high-efficiency solar power installation at two county-owned sites in 2013.
“These solar installations required no upfront capital investment and, not only do they deliver significant savings by eliminating our electricity expense, they also generate 152 percent more electricity than county operations use,” said Terry Vernon, Yolo County General Services Department deputy director. “Also, as part of our partnership with SunPower, we have established an energy academy for K-12 students that provides our young people with educational opportunities in environmental science, renewable energy technology and energy auditing.”
The second summit day wrapped up the summit with an array of education sessions. Emily Courtney, program manager at Strategic Energy Innovations presented Making the Most of Prop 39: School Energy Retrofits, Staff Training, Conservation & Education, which continued the summit’s discussion on how schools can best use Prop 39 funding. The last summit day also emphasized the need to create curriculum that highlights sustainability and environmental education. Teachers joined in discussing the major benefits of using curriculum from the California Education and Environment Initiative in two sessions entitled Connect the Classroom to the Campus and Exploring California’s Water Woes with the EEI Curriculum and Project WET.