Findley #1 in EPA’s Battle of the Buildings Contest
Students hold a banner presented to the school in honor of their Battle of the Buildings success.
A place so bursting with energy seemed an unlikely one to lead the way on energy conservation but celebration of exactly that was the first order of business this morning at Findley Elementary on the last day of school for the year.
In the US Environmental Protection Agency’s 2014 Battle of the Buildings, Findley finished #1 out of 613 entrants in the education category, reducing its energy consumption by 29%, enough to cut the school’s energy costs by almost $34,000, more than the starting salary for a first-year teacher. The building simultaneously became a better, more comfortable, exciting place to learn as part of the district’s cohort of Turnaround Arts schools that are using federal grants to integrate arts throughout the academic curriculum. The heating and cooling bills are going down at the same time that student achievement is on the rise.
A hybrid geothermal and variable refrigerant flow heating and cooling system replaced the building’s outdated steam heating system and now provides cooling throughout the entire facility. Findley’s renovation also included the installation of high efficiency windows and doors, increased fresh air by improving ventilation, low wattage fluorescent and LED lighting with occupancy controls, and improved building envelope insulation.
Dave Berger is an Environment & Energy Specialist in the district’s Operations Department and he was on hand at Findley Monday morning to present a banner from the EPA in honor of the school’s #1 national status.
Principal Barb Adams followed Berger’s remarks with some further emphasis of the fact that Findley did the best out of more than 600 schools across the entire country. The school is a star among stars, a leader in a district the EPA has named an Energy Star Partner of the Year four years in a row.
The students’ response was somewhat measured; not all that energetic. After all, they’re not that well-versed in BTUs and emissions; the stuff of energy conservation awards. But when they moved on to their normal routine of shouting out the cheers/chants that remind each grade level of the year when they’ll graduate from college the switch finally flipped. No energy was saved there, especially not on the day when everybody can stop being whatever grade they’ve been all year and start thinking of themselves as a year closer to that not quite so far away year of ultimate graduation. Plenty is left in the kids’ tanks to fuel a fun summer before Findley gets back to all of its outstanding work next fall.
The school is now cool, and hot, in all of the right ways.
