|
Schools Summit
Envisions a Green Future
Click here |
|
Berkeley USD Raises a Solar Roof
by Barbara Crane
One of
the strategies of
Berkeley's
climate action plan is to empower citizens and business owners to
participate in climate protection initiatives.
KyotoUSA, an all-volunteer organization which encourages cities to
work with their governments to reduce greenhouse emissions, has taken up
the mantle in a big way.
The group created a program called HELiOS (Helios Energy Lights Our
Schools) to help the
Berkeley Unified School District obtain and install solar photovoltaic
panels on the roof of an elementary school. By summer of 2008, a
100-kilowatt solar roof at Washington Elementary School will offset the
school's entire annual electric bill of $26,000.
An $800,000 grant from the state
Office of Public School Construction is paying the major cost of the
$1,250,000 system, which includes a new roof as well as soft costs such as
architectural design and project management. The grant requires the
District to put up 40 percent in matching funds, which are being covered
by a
PG&E rebate of $268,000 and a loan of $232,000 using a tax-exempt
municipal lease.
Since the savings will be less than the loan payments in the first four
years, KyotoUSA raised $8,000 from friends and supporters to cover loan
payments until they are exceeded by energy savings, as well as another
$12,000 to provide funds for additional energy efficiency upgrades.
The HELiOS model can be applied in any school district served by an
investor owned utility, said Tom Kelly, head of KyotoUSA: "All this is so
doable. It's a matter of rolling up your sleeves and tapping into
resources that are available to you."
Asked how a small group of volunteers managed to engage the necessary
partners for the project - including the school board, teachers and
parents - Kelly answered, "They each had their own particular concerns.
Our approach was to accept every challenge as an opportunity. We asked
people to be honest about their objections."
Thirteen months and many meetings later the installation was unanimously
approved by the school board.
What's next for KyotoUSA? The group of about 20 volunteers is
now working towards an even more ambitious agenda - to establish a
dedicated, community-wide fund that would bridge the gap between the
energy budget for each Berkeley school and the cost of a renewable energy
system.
"People are concerned about climate change and want to do something about
it," Kelly said. "We are convinced about the urgency of this global
climate crisis, and kids are as concerned about it as we are. As adults we
have an obligation to do as much as we can."
|
