Schools do more to waste less

By Charles Simpson

Last year AHS burned through almost 5 million kilowatt hours of electricity, spent $143,510.95 on natural gas and $503,050.10 in total on power. AHS will likely match these numbers this school year as well. The school's energy demand is immense, and with increasing emphasis on efficiency Fairfax County has undertaken several major efforts to help the school go green.

"I definitely have seen a dramatic increase of interest by the public in energy issues over the last couple of years driven by concerns about climate change, concerns about the ever climbing cost of energy, and concerns about oil supplies," said Fairfax County coordinator of energy management Tom Reinsel. "This new awaking to an old problem is something that is much needed."

"We did make a huge leap forward in energy efficiency in FCPS between 2002 and 2006 in a special project that Fairfax County used on making energy efficiency related improvement," said Reinsel.

At AHS these improvements included a new energy management system that controls lighting, heating and air conditioning from a central location via an Internet connection. Renovations also included efficient fluorescent lighting, double pane insulated windows, added roof insulation, efficient heating and efficient air conditioning systems.

The budget and it's limits

One factor limiting efficiency improvements and reducing AHS' carbon footprint is the county budget. The majority of the county construction budget goes toward the construction of new schools, rather than updating and improving existing ones.

"Three years ago, we moved up on our Capital budget from $130 million to $155 million... But most of this budget goes towards constructing new schools and additions, rather than renovations," said county superintendent Jack Dale.

"The cost of construction to do renovations is so expensive that it is not feasible to do it all at once and it had to be phased over many years," said Reinsel. Fortunately, many renovations do not take from the county budget on the long run. For example, according to Reinsel the Fairfax County efficiency renovation from 2002, "will pay for itself over about 8 and a half years by saving on energy costs."

With these additions AHS has become relatively efficient. "One way we measure efficiency is by energy use per square foot. Annandale is at 78.9 thousand btu per square foot, so Annandale energy use is almost exactly average for all high schools in the county," said Reinsel.

Despite reaching this average, AHS still has space for progress. "There certainly is room for improvement since we have some high schools as low as 58 thousand btu per square foot," said Reinsel. Other schools have more to spend on efficiency and becoming environmentally friendly.

A focus on improvement

T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria recently underwent advanced renovations, such as efficient lighting, glaze insulated windows and a 450,000 gallon cistern underground water reservoir that catches and conserves rain for general usage. These improvements reduce electrical and gas waste and save over 500,000 gallons of water per year.

Improvements like these have been instituted largely in response to increasing public understanding and concern towards environmental issues and climate change.

"I think we should be more environmentally friendly because any little thing will slow global warming. Our school and other schools should do what they can to help," said freshman Melanie Meline. While the public has only recently become focused on environmental issues, the county has been working to reduce the schools' carbon footprint for decades.

"We have been focused on improving the energy efficiency of FCPS since 1978. While the general public has finally taken an interest in climate change recently, it has been a concern of those in the energy management community long before that," said Reinsel.

With increasing public interest comes the opportunity for a unified effort of students, teachers and staff to make simple, but significant improvements on the schools impact on the environment. One common complaint among students and staff is the lack of an effective recycling program at AHS.

Identifying problems

"I don't think we're [AHS] environmentally friendly because we don't even recycle anymore and we waste a lot of paper," said sophomore Aya Ibrahim while pointing at one of the numerous paper announcements hanging in the halls of AHS.

"In most of my classrooms we don't have a recycling bin," said junior Nicholas Den. The county does in fact have a recycling program, although making sure most of the school's paper finds its way to a recycling dumpster has proven difficult. Additionally, recycling programs do not give back economically in the way efficiency programs do.

"Our recycling program actually costs money, but we do it anyway because it is the right thing to do for the environment and the added cost is modest," said Reinsel. The need to recycle other materials than paper makes the challenge of bringing about a collaborative recycling effort even more difficult.

"All the trays for lunch aren't recyclable. We should have a separate receptacle for trays so they could recycle them," said senior Ariel Pak. Receptacles for other materials such as aluminum, plastic, or glass are also not widely available at AHS.
Another common complaint is excessive lighting, heating or other energy use.

"There's so much light, even in places that don't need it like the computer labs. I think we could turn off the lights more," said junior Daniela Guevara. Heating and cooling are also disproportionate in various areas of the school, adding to energy waste.

"In some of my classes it's really cool but in others it's really hot. It gets uncomfortable and makes it hard to work," said junior Summia Farooq. This is a common complaint from AHS students and staff alike.

Looking to the future

Fortunately Fairfax County is planning more programs to improve heating, cooling and lighting systems. "Obviously new technology has been developed during the last 30 years and it gets implemented as it becomes econonmically viable so there is always something in the works," said Reinsel.

"Going forward, the FCPS buildings that are currently being renovated are receiving even more advanced technology like the latest lighting systems, controls, and advanced HVAC systems," Reinsel said. These will allow better control of school energy use and reduce waste.

Importance of the individual

Students and staff can make efforts on their own to reduce energy waste. Teachers should be sure to turn off lights when their room is not in use, as well as shutting down computers, monitors and printers as often as possible. In addition, keeping doors and windows closed prevents wasting energy on heating and cooling.

A final complaint towards AHS environmental impact is the massive gas consumption and carbon emission of buses.

"They could redesign the engine to run off of something else," said freshmen Melanie Meline. Interestingly, public buses actually reduce carbon emissions by running on diesel, rather than regular fuel and transporting large numbers of students per trip.

"It turns out that a large part of the carbon footprint of operating a high school is from students and teachers driving cars to and from school when free public transportation is available," said Reinsel.

All of these improvements will need to be utilized to create significant environmental progress. It will require a combined effort from everyone at the school and county to reduce the environmental impact of AHS. Fortunately, there is a growing common interest among students, faculty and FCPS leadership to achieve these goals and help our schools go green.

By Alan Weintraut |  January 12, 2009; 12:45 PM ET
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