School District 27's Green Role
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Transcript of School District 27's Green Role
October 2011October 2011October 2011October 2011 www.thegreengazette.cawww.thegreengazette.cawww.thegreengazette.cawww.thegreengazette.ca Page Page Page Page 17171717
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A recent survey conducted by School District 27’s Environmental
Stewardship Committee, reaching all of
District 27’s schools, will bring partici-
pants closer to a greener more sustainable way of life.
The survey focused on how each
school performs in terms of energy con-sumption, waste, water, transportation,
school grounds, and green participation.
Out of the 28 schools participating in the survey, Big Lake Elementary, achieving
Green School Status from the Seeds
Foundation, proved to be the greenest of
the schools with high marks in all areas, including its own green team that in-
cludes students, teachers, and staff.
All schools did well with using environmentally friendly cleaning prod-
ucts. All but one school had a recycling
program in place. With only six out of 28 schools offering water conservation pro-
grams, this is one area in need of im-
provement. Others include waste-free
lunches, anti-idling programs, and dou-ble-sided printing policies.
Heating and cooling systems are
one of the largest energy consumers in schools. Even small changes in system
efficiency can yield large savings to a
school operation budget, as well as a re-
duction in greenhouse gases. With this in mind, the committee is
also developing and implementing green
energy projects that include high effi-ciency mechanical systems such as a geo-
thermal heat pump at the 108 Mile Ele-
mentary School. Williams Lake Secon-dary will also receive a condensing boiler
system, and a solar wall. Other projects
in the district include solar hot water sys-
tems and biomass boiler systems. The Board of Trustees has re-
ceived recommendations to move aggres-
sively towards an anti-idling program across the entire school bus fleet. In
2010, the operation of school buses pro-
duced 1,291.56 tonnes of CO2e emis-sions.
Lighting also accounts for nearly
half the electric bills in most schools.
Currently the District is collaborating with BC Hydro to perform a lighting au-
dit and redesign study to reduce electrical
energy consumption in Williams Lake Secondary School.
During the 2010 year District 27
produced 4,688.41 tonnes of CO2e. The
district purchased 3,396.85 tonnes CO2e equivalent offsets from the Pacific Car-
bon Trust. The purchase fulfils the Dis-
trict’s commitment to be carbon neutral during the year, and compliant with the
Greenhouse Gas Targets Act, as required
by the Carbon Neutral Government Regulation.
The Environmental Stewardship
Committee’s first meeting took place in
School Districts 27’s Green RoleSchool Districts 27’s Green RoleSchool Districts 27’s Green RoleSchool Districts 27’s Green Role
May, 2010, committing to maintaining the highest levels of education for all stu-
dents while being socially responsible
and employing environmentally sustain-
able practices. The committee promotes and sup-
ports environmental responsibility
through the following core operation val-ues:
• Awareness of how our actions af-
fect our environment.
• Accountability of students and
staff to support healthy and natural
environments for current and fu-ture generations.
• Appreciation of how any actions,
large or small, will have a positive
effect on students and the environ-
ment.
• Actions that create a positive learn-
ing environment while reducing greenhouse gas production and
increasing social responsibility.
The vision is supported by the BC Energy Plan, which sets out a strategy to
encourage British Columbians to take
responsibility for our climate and envi-ronment.
By Teena Clipston
Solar panels on elementary school at 108
Mile House in Chilcotin-Cariboo district
(installed by Pro Eco Energy)
Solar panels on elementary school at 150
Mile House in Chilcotin-Cariboo district
(installed by Pro Eco Energy)