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CASE STUDY: GREENHOUSE - WEST CENTRAL REGION

Students Growing Renewable Veggies: The Willmar High School Greenhouse ProjectBy Kat McCarthy, CERTs Research Assistant • Published August 2011

West Central Minnesota has been the hub of muchexcitement with the beginning of the Youth EnergySummit (YES!) program, which engages teams ofyouth in action projects to literally put energy intoour future.

Youth (grades 8-12) participate in four special eventsduring the school year to learn about and discussrenewable energy, energy entrepreneurship, andenergy economics. In their home communities, eachteam undertakes an energy action project of theirchoosing.

In Willmar, Minnesota, the high school YES! teamtook a particularly bold approach—fixing up an oldgreenhouse, heating it with renewable energy, andproducing vegetables for their school and local foodshelves.

At the two-day YES! program kick-off in 2007, teamsbrainstormed energy-saving ideas to be implemented in their communities. Willmar’s teamcame up with the idea of creating a communitygreenhouse to grow fresh out-of-season produce.

“Our ultimate plan for implementing a year-roundgreenhouse into Willmar’s community is to build thegreenhouse on the Willmar Senior High School’sproperty and grow fresh produce for the local foodshelf and public school food service,” explainsRobert Palmer, a science teacher at Willmar HighSchool, and the team coach for the project.

To get started, the team identified an existing greenhouse at the Minnesota West TechnologyCampus in Willmar that they could use to learnabout greenhouses and growing food.

“This greenhouse is exceptional because it uses solarcollectors to heat water that then heats the greenhouse. The unique set up here helped us iden-tify new ways to design the new greenhouse torequire fewer fossil fuels for heat,” says Palmer.

The water heated by the solar collectors and boiler isstored in a 250 gallon steel tank and distributed byan in-floor heat system. The ultimate goal of theproject is to reduce energy use and greenhouse gasemissions, which the solar panels do.

Project Snapshot

Purpose: To provide a hands-on educational experience inproducing local foods and energy efficiency andrenewable energy planning and implementation

Technology: Local food production in an efficient solar-powered and biomass-heated greenhouse

Project Leaders:Willmar Youth Energy Summit! Grades 8-12

Grant:$10,000 in grants from WC CERT between 2007-2009

Total Cost: $25,000

Willmar Greenhouse on the MN West Technology Campus

CERTs PARTNERS

University of Minnesota’sRegional SustainableDevelopmentPartnerships

Eureka Recycling

Southwest RegionalDevelopmentCommission

The Minnesota Project

Minnesota Departmentof Commerce, Division of Energy Resources

CERTs FUNDERS

Minnesota Departmentof Commerce, Division ofEnergy Resources

McKnight Foundation

Bush Foundation

Carolyn Foundation

University of MinnesotaExtension

A group of Austin Pakola Eagle Scouts put together a work crew and excavated the westwing to prepare for the in-floor heating system. This project was a perfect opportunity toget some hard labor done, while partnering with a local Scout group and educating peopleon solar thermal and sustainable agriculture. The design and materials for this system weredonated by Empire Heating and Plumbing, a local company that is dedicated to sustainability.

The biomass boiler was installed by Aquatherm. “We are decreasing nonrenewable fossilfuel consumption for heating the existing greenhouse through our use of a hybrid heatingsystem involving solar thermal panels and a biomass burner. We are also applying ash fromthe burner as a soil supplement,” says Palmer. “We have been able to collect local biomassfrom the Minnesota Valley Alfalfa Producers to burn alfalfa pellets, and the heater has beenworking well.”

Produce from the greenhouse was delivered to a variety of locations in the community.Much of the produce is going to the Kandiyohi County Food Systems and Foodshelf, whichprovides local connections with producers and consumers. Additionally, the Food ServiceFarm to School program has allowed food grown in the greenhouse to be used in theschool’s cafeteria.

“We are providing them with greens they typically do not have access to, such as arugula. Ifwe compare our greens with lettuce typically purchased by the school district, the price paidis similar, but there is a dramatic difference in total food miles. Our salad greens traveled less than 2 miles after harvest, whereas the average head of lettuce would travelover 1,800 miles,” notes Palmer. Any leftover produce is sold at the Willmar CommunityMarket, where the League of Women Voters sponsors a booth for the group.

When asked what he would recommend to other schools looking to do similar projects,Palmer responded, “I would encourage them to form collaborative partnerships with asmany community groups and businesses as possible. Working with schools is a win-win situation because the students are gaining knowledge and skills while the project grows anddevelops more community connections, providing volunteer labor.”

For more information, contact Robert Palmer (Willmar High School) atpalmer@willmar.k12.mn.us or Derek Otteson (Empire Plumbing and Heating) at doempire@hotmail.com.

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Broccoli growing at the Willmar Greenhouse

Swiss chard at a local market event