By Sophie Bishop
Creating a building that is sustainable and energy efficient is a challenge for the next generations. We need to think of the future with climate change and how we can cut down on greenhouse gas output and costs. Kitty Stratton, Super Energy Efficient Design Consultant, and Gary Schollmeier, a renewable energy expert, came to Westbrook-Walnut Grove (WWG) on March 5th and 6th to give knowledge and resources to the YES! team around these opportunities. The WWG team wanted to learn about how they can make their school more energy efficient and hopefully implement the ideas that Kitty and Gary have provided.
Kitty presented on sustainable architecture and how people should be building structures for our changing world. She taught about passive solutions like natural lighting and insulation. She also talked about little changes people can do to cut down on costs and emissions like LED lights.
Gary presented on renewable energy and the benefits it can bring to a school. He gave the students the tools to bring renewable energy to Westbrook-Walnut Grove.
They left the students with the task to create an exterior movable insulation project. Through this project, the students will determine what material provides the best insulation and have a competition for keeping heat and cooling inside. If they upgraded their insulation in their whole school, it could cut down the energy bills by 50%. We look forward to the YES! team completing this project!
