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Hampton Bays Middle School students learned an important lesson last week: going green can really save some green.
The students have been learning about the benefits of environmentally friendly technology ever since their $42 million middle school on Ponquogue Avenue, which is the first public school in New York State to earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, opened in 2008.
But the lesson hit home last Wednesday, June 10, when Long Island Power Authority President Kevin Law presented school officials with a $300,000 rebate in recognition of their energy efficiency efforts.
The money was made possible through LIPA’s Efficiency Long Island initiative, a 10-year $924 million program launched this year that provides rebates and incentives to power authority customers that institute and apply energy-saving measures.
“You guys are very lucky to have this school,” Mr. Law said during an assembly last week. “Your school is a shining example of what we can do for energy efficiency.”
The 147,000-square-foot school, which opened its doors to the district’s fifth- and sixth-graders in February 2008 and to its seventh- and eight-graders in September 2008, contains a variety of energy-saving measures and designs.
With its increased insulation, energy efficient air condition system and low-power lighting system, the school is expected to save the district about 30 percent, or approximately $90,000 a year, in energy costs. LIPA also explained that those features will save about 536,000 kilowatt hours annually, the equivalent of taking 70 cars off the road.
“In today’s economy, where every school dollar counts, operating an educational institution with this level of efficiency will no doubt have a positive effect on not only school tax bills, but the environment as well,” Hampton Bays Superintendent Joanne Loewenthal said in a press release.
Ms. Loewenthal added that the rebate money will be used to fund energy conservation initiatives at the district’s elementary and high schools.
Hampton Bays Middle School Principal Lars Clemensen said on Tuesday that teachers at the middle school have incorporated conservatism and green living into their curriculums, using the building itself as a teaching tool.
“It was designed environmentally efficient,” he said of the middle school. “Now we have to run it in an environmentally aware way.”
Mr. Clemensen said the school’s Earth Club has installed plaques around the school, highlighting its green features, and students are also selling reusable grocery bags for $1 each as part of a school fund-raiser. He added that students also now have the choice between Styrofoam and recyclable paper plates in the school’s cafeteria.
In addition, the lights in the school’s classrooms and offices shut off automatically when the rooms are vacant, and Mr. Clemensen said some students regularly participate in campus clean-ups. “These new and exciting things get people thinking and acting green,” he said.
Art Desen, the chairman of the Long Island chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, said Hampton Bays Middle School has set a precedent for other school districts to follow. He added that other area districts have come forward after expressing interest in constructing similar energy-efficient schools.
“We are here today in the spirit of teamwork, working toward a common cause,” Mr. Desen said during last week’s assembly. “This is a very big day, one we’ve been trying to accomplish for five years.”
Mr. Clemensen said it has been the students, and not administrators, who are taking the lead in initiating green programs at the middle school. He said he has been impressed with the fact that students seem to come up with new conservation ideas almost every day.
“They’re the most green of anybody in our community,” he said. “They’ve risen to the challenge.”
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