June 2008 — Features
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Green Schools : Electric Youth
The same concept was applied to the computer labs, where overhead lights can increase glare on monitors. By purchasing a set of Ikea floor lamps for each lab and lighting them using compact fluorescent bulbs rather than traditional incandescent bulbs, the district cut down the energy used in an already electricity-heavy room. Next, the district switched out the incandescent bulbs in illuminated exit signs with LED lighting. At about $40 per bulb, LED lights are too expensive for classroom use, but with a life span of 50,000 to 60,000 hours (versus about 1,000 hours for an incandescent bulb) and using a fraction of the watts, they are "a no-brainer," Caldwell says, for use in lighted exit signs.
Another energy-saving solution Caldwell introduced to the district was the installation of translucent roller blinds. Unlike traditional blinds, which block daylight altogether, translucent roller blinds, made from basket-woven fiberglass materials, allow outside light into the classroom while providing complete privacy from outside views. By allowing filtered daylight into the classroom, a school can eliminate the need for overhead lighting altogether during the brightest parts of the day.
MechoShade Systems, a New York City-based company known as a pioneer of solar shading, donated its ThermoVeil vinyl roller blinds for trial use in two science labs at MCPS' Northwood High School. In the time since the donation was made, MechoShade has developed a new, translucent EcoVeil roller blind that is completely free of PVC, a popular plastic, ensuring that the blinds will not only trim energy costs while in use, but also reduce future waste issues at the end of their lifetime-- not to mention protect students from the health risks linked to PVC. Caldwell is hoping to introduce EcoVeil blinds districtwide in the near future. Unfortunately, roller blinds are still an expensive option, but, as with many energy-saving products, the high initial costs are relieved down the road.
With the SERT program, Montgomery County has tapped into the cheapest and most effective way to cut energy costs-- changing user habits. Turning off lights in an empty classroom; using desk lamps rather than overhead lighting; eliminating vending machines from cafeterias; powering down computers and monitors at the end of the school day-- these are the ultimate energy savers, and according to Caldwell, they have borne a 15 percent drop in the district's energy costs.
What MCPS has done is involve its students in tasks that could have easily been assigned to building maintenance. As a result, according to Jill Coutts, a science teacher at the district's Poolesville High School who works with the school's SERT team, "These kids have changed the whole culture of energy use throughout the district." Borrowing from an old proverb, you might say the district had the wisdom to teach its students to fish, and in so doing has provided them with lessons that will serve them a lifetime.
Jennifer Demski is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, CA.
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