While I have been thinking about how to bring school's into a greener age, I have been brainstorming several things I will want to explore. First, I considered energy conservation. Lights off, heat low, pop machines off, etc. These are all great ideas, and do work to help save energy and dollars for a district. However, what does this cost students and staff? Can staff work in a 60 degree building? Or students learn in a building that is cold? The compromise that many districts seem to have reached is comfort for students, but staff will potentially not find heat up on weekends and lights on in the evening. Is it the best option, not sure, but seems to be a popular model.
Next, I thought about waste. Wow, a lot of garbage gets sent out of just the school I work in. Especially the lunchroom, napkins, plastic silverware, ramekins and small dishes being thrown out everyday. So I was thinking about ways to minimize some of the plastic waste going out of the schools. One of the options I thought of using more "real" silverware and dishes and washing them. True, more work for the kitchen staff, but certainly less garbage. Hard to balance the values, as it might cost more to pay the staff, and our garbage cost may be fixed. But, the overall impact may be of greater value. Interesting things to balance.
For the final thought for tonight, I was thinking about different ways to surface the exterior of buildings. The traditional brick exteriors are very porous, therefore air and moisture are always seeping in and out. Is there a way to surface the brick to help keep some of this air in? Or moisture out? I know of some paint and moisture blockers, but most are very short lived.
As I begin my research, these are just some of the thoughts that have been reoccuring. I look forward to finding the answers out to some of these questions.
I am not familiar with the set up of your buildings within your district, but have you considered looking at putting wind turbines or solar panels in and generating some electricity? I'm guessing that it would cut down your electric bills to almost nil and you might even generate more than you use and be able to sell some back to the the power company. I don't know how much they cost to put in and how long it would be before you start to see the payback, but I'm told that doing this on a small scale for a home that you would see the payback almost immediately.
ReplyDeleteGreat thought John, thanks! From what I understand the payback is much faster with solar than with wind, and most of our buildings are in areas that can some direct shine.
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