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Bay Roberts is looking for BVSD community members to Last year, a volunteer community group called Greening Boulder Schools was formed in response to concern that BVSD was not meeting key objectives of Ballot Issue 3A passed in Nov. 2006. 3A allocated 296.8 million of Boulder County taxpayer funds to construct/renovate targeted BVSD schools. The language of the bond states that the money be used for "implementing cost-effective, environmentally-friendly and energy-efficient design and construction strategies". Our group found that for most targeted schools there wasn’t enough money in the bond allocation to accommodate all of the desired improvements while also satisfying the green building mandate. Often the first improvement to be omitted from the implementation plan was the “greening” component. Greening Boulder Schools' mandate is to work with the District to make sustainable practices, energy efficiency and green building practices an integral part of BVSD policy. To that end, the district hired in summer 2008 a Sustainability Coordinator (Ghita Carroll) and is now working to formulate a sustainability policy which eventually will be approved by the BVSD school board. Bay Roberts from Greening Boulder Schools will be a member of the sustainability policy committee and is seeking input from concerned parents and community members about what such a policy should entail. I am compiling a sustainability list below and would love to get more input. I can be contacted at
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or 303-447-8836.
BVSD Sustainability List
General Facilities Management
• create a major BVSD maintenance fund - do not let BVSD buildings fall into disrepair.
• recognize the value of embedded energy and materials in existing buildings
Transportation :
• District-wide Eco-pass for employees (and eventually for students)
• Parking Cash-out (where employees who do not use an expensive parking space receive a fraction of the avoided parking cost--Boulder Community Hospital has implemented this). Is this funded by a fee charged to those who do use parking spaces?
• do not allow cars to idle when picking up kids.
• encourage car pooling, riding bikes and walking to school where possible.
• Safe Routes to Schools programs.
• any newly purchased BVSD vehicles should be hybrid/biodiesal/electric-these vehicles should use alternative fuels and get high gas mileage. But consider that its better to continue to use the old vehicles as long as possible until they are no longer functioning than to replace them now with new more efficient vehicles.
• reconsider the negative effects that open enrollment has on the environment/communities- encourage enrollment at neighborhood schools
School Lunches:
• Don't sell caffeinated, carbonated sugar water and junk
• Stop supporting bottled water industry! Kids should learn to carry their own drinking vessels
• support local farmers
• Compost paper towels.
• reduce reuse recycle and compost.
• less wasted packaging with school lunches.
• teach students why all of the above is important
Green Building/Preservation :
• Insulating or re-insulating older structures with blown-in cellulose or closed cell foam insulation. This requires quite a bit of labor and money but will allow any other systems modifications (HVAC, solar, etc) to be smaller in scale and cost less in operating costs.
• One should not forget the basis of sustainability is conserving what we have. The BVSD does not have a major maintenance fund, so lets buildings fall into disrepair, creating more expensive radical maintenance needs. Creating such a fund is of prime importance. The materials of existing buildings are typically of higher quality and with a longer life span than contemporary materials if properly maintained. Ideally the BVSD should analyze the overall environmental equation of each transaction that may include both components of conservation and green building techniques.
• involve community in preservation and green projects to increase ownership of neighborhood schools, reducing vandalism, and spreading knowledge and skills of green building into the community.
• energy audits at all existing buildings- grants are available through excel energy. EET funds may be available from the City for energy efficiency projects.
• zero energy schools.
• use of renewable energy at schools whenever possible.
• if purchasing energy from Excel, purchase wind energy.
• Waterless urinals.
• dual flush toilets to reduce water consumption
• Addition of parking spaces on valuable land promotes the use of automobiles and should be discouraged.
• Find third-party funding for solar, PV, geothermal-
• Explore possibilities of green roofs.
• Better indoor lighting through natural light.
• natural daylighting via solutubes (skylights) and other cost effective technologies
• Reduce electrical waste of daytime lighting in well-daylit areas (e.g Monarch HS library).
• Full-cutoff outdoor lighting to reduce light trespass, light pollution.
• Outdoor lights off during daytime; better timers, sensors for reduced electricity waste.
• Is there a way to turn off all computers when not in use? Put all classroom electronics on a power strip to eliminate phantom power drain outside school hours.
• Porous paving to reduce water run-off, drainage demands
• choose low and non-toxic construction materials
• choose de-construction strategies whenever doing a remodel
• insulating shutters
• Native, drought-tolerant vegetation
• School gardens as educational tools
• Don't water lawns during the rain! Water sensors?
Reminder of area resources:
• NREL
• Rocky Mountain Institute
• Natural Capitalism
• CU: Solar Decathlon, EESI, Environmental Center, others
• Center for Resource Conservation
• Eco-Cycle
• Boulder Green Building Guild
• Boulder County Relocalization
• County sustainability commitment
• Governor's Energy Office
• Climate Smart
• BREEE
• Green Heart Institute
• Collaborative for High Performance Schools http://www.chps.net/overview/index.htm
• www.buildgreenschools.org
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