On October 30th, AUSD, at no cost to the district, participated in the California Green Schools Conference. This conference is an opportunity for school stakeholders to meet and share best practices for sustainable design of school facilities and environmental literacy. Board Member Charlie Blanchard and Superintendent Val Williams joined architect and AUSD Sustainability Committee member, Diana Hayton, AUSD Project Manager, Juan Barroso, and SVA Architect, Nathan Herrero, for a presentation and panel discussion on Zero Net Energy: Even A Small School District Can Make It Happen.
A building that is ZNE is an energy efficient building that consumes only as much power as is generated on site, through renewable energy sources. AUSD is building AMS, AHS, OV, and MA to be ZNE Ready, reducing the district’s future utility bills and greenhouse gas emissions.
How did we get here? The Albany School Board passed a Resolution on Sustainability and directed staff to form a Sustainability & Integrated Design Committee with representatives from the community, school board, school district teachers, and administrators. They also established goals for new school construction and existing building retrofits:
• Safety and Accessibility
• High Quality Learning Spaces
• Multi use by School and community
• Reduced use of natural resources (ZNE)
• Quality Architecture
• Budget Responsibly
• High Quality Learning Spaces
• Multi use by School and community
• Reduced use of natural resources (ZNE)
• Quality Architecture
• Budget Responsibly
Each school's Design Team consists of a representation of teachers, parents, site and district administrators, sustainability & integrated design committee, and the district project manager. The result is AUSD schools that are built ZNE ready and will be great places for teaching and learning! Our schools will have cross ventilation/operable windows, high efficiency heating/ventilation units in each classroom, natural daylighting and ventilation with windows on two sides, all LED lighting and controls.
It is through the collaborative efforts of the school district and community that our AUSD schools will be energy efficient and high quality learning spaces for our children!