BRATTLEBORO — Brattleboro Union High School is one of 11 schools around the state recognized by Efficiency Vermont and the Vermont Superintendents Association as achieving ENERGY STAR status through the Project Green School Initiative.
This designation indicates that the schools are in the top 25 percent nationally for energy efficiency, and that they meet stringent standards for health, ventilation, comfort, and lighting quality.
Project Green School is a collaboration that seeks to put all Vermont schools on the path toward ENERGY STAR designation by 2020. Vermont is the first state to pursue ENERGY STAR designation for every school within its borders.
Over the last 13 years, Efficiency Vermont and the Vermont Superintendents Association's School Energy Management Program have supported 1,200 energy efficiency projects at 350 schools, delivering $43 million in energy savings over the lifetime of the projects.
In the area of renewable energy, Vermont has pioneered the use of wood-chip heating systems. Today, some 5.6 million square feet of space in Vermont schools, including BUHS, is heated this way, with an annual savings of $2.6 million per year. Thirty-percent of all Vermont public school students attend a wood-heated school.
Project Green School is designed to take those collaborative efforts to the next level by working with every school in the Vermont. In attaining ENERGY STAR designation, Vermont schools will reduce costs to taxpayers and impact on the environment, while providing a healthy learning environment.
In addition, notes a press release, the initiative will enable these schools to provide educational opportunities to students and staff throughout the energy improvement process.