Local School Cuts Down Heating Bills

The boiler room at the Harley School looks brand new. That's because most of it, is.  Timothy Cottrell, Pd.D. is the Head of the Harley School. He says, "we put in new boilers took out all of our electric heat so we have radiant water heat throughout the entire school. We replaced the dehumidification system and the big addition is that we installed a new gas powered co-generation system."

Co-generation is an efficient system that re-uses the excess heat from the generation of power.  This new system replaces an old boiler system and electric heaters left over from the 70's.  The work was completed over the summer and already they've noticed a difference.

"In the first month that the system has been up and running it has decreased our utility use by 25%," Cottrell says. 

And the students are learning from this too.  "Overhauling the schools entire energy system corresponding to the school forming an all school sustainability committee and student lead green team," he adds. "The students are looking at food consumption, our energy use and behaviors that impact sustainability."