Schools

Superintendent's Report: Green Improvements Could Mean Solar Power

Green initiatives for Hillsborough Schools include considering solar panels, which would also allow the district to replace school roofs at a reduced rate.

Green improvements for the district’s schools include monitoring energy consumption, updating systems and the possibility of solar power.

But the timetable for the projects ranges from immediate to somewhere down the line, owing to research, feasibility and approvals needed to implement some of the improvements.

“I think some of this could start relatively quickly,” District Superintendent Jorden Schiff said. “We’ve begun the process in the Facilities Committee to explore what power purchasing agreements are all about and trying to ask professionals in this area.”

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“These are not quick things,” he added. “You have to go through a relatively extensive process in order to get the approvals you need to begin.”

As outlined in a report stemming from his first 100 days in the district, Schiff named benchmarking energy consumption in all facilities and determining ways to save money, expanding heating and cooling control systems to schools that don’t have them, completing energy audits for all district facilities and completing a power purchasing agreement for solar panels on all district roofs. The solar panel agreement would also allow the district to replace roofs and possibly install air conditioning without using tax revenue, Schiff added.

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The behavioral changes to save energies are already starting in two of the district’s nine schools, while the heating and cooling system changes will need to be something the district considers in its budget. Energy for America handles the heating and cooling controls in three of the district’s schools, which have seen significant energy savings off investing in the controls, Schiff said.

One board member, Greg Gillette, noted that he Energy for America program is something that’s been investigated over the years. According to Gillette, the upgrades had been nixed because of the cost of installation, so he cautioned the board about the possible control installation.

“We asked Energy for America at the other six schools.   .  .  and we’ve always been told that the other six schools are not suitable,” Gillette said. “The investment to upgrade.  .  .is so costly that we would not derive the savings.  .  .We  have investigated that over the years. Maybe now things have changed and we can do it now.”

Gillette also suggested considering the district’s parking lots for the solar project.

The return for the other six schools relates to each school’s age, with the newer schools—the high school, Amsterdam School and Auten Road Intermediate School— seeing a larger and more immediate return on the new controls.

“The three schools that have Energy for America controls were done first because the return was so clear,” Facilities Chairman Thuy Anh Le said. “And yes, the HVAC system is more suitable for this. The return for the other schools is much less because they’re older buildings.

“It’s not going to be the home run you saw with the high school, Amsterdam School and the intermediate school,” she added.

At least one board member, Marc Rosenberg, supported the solar panel idea, noting that the district has the largest amount of flat roof space in the township.

“They’re just begging for solar panels.  . . I was told some of those can’t support it but I guess there are ways to make those roofs qualify,” Rosenberg said. “I think the whole solar panel thing is great. My neighbor has solar panels and I just go over there and watch with amazement as her electric meter goes backward.

Rosenberg also asked how the purchasing agreement would work and whether the district. According to Schiff, a third party would own the panels and sell the energy generated from them back to the district at a discounted rate in exchange for the use of the roof space.

Some districts have purchased their solar panels though, allowing those districts to make a profit from the energy sales, he added. Owning panels in Hillsborough would require further discussion and research, he added.

“The reason power purchasing agreements are becoming attractive to school districts is that it doesn’t require an out-of-pocket expense,” he said. “All the financing for these things are taking care of my other parties.”

 


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