We remodeled the school, and saved money in the long run

When I started teaching science in a small rural high school in rural Colorado, classes met in a building that had been hastily built in the 1950s. After over 60 years of use and abuse, the school building was starting to show its age. It took us a few years to get together enough money to even start to talk about renovating a school that over 200 students used. But, we held a bunch of bake sales and fundraisers and by last summer we were ready to start fixing the building last summer.

First we mounted insulation board on the interior walls. We painted them after we finished everything else. Next, we replaced the old and leaky windows with new double-paned windows that are much more energy efficient. Then we repaired the cracks in the exterior and gave it a new coat of stucco.

We added ductless multi-zone heating and air conditioning units to the classrooms. We talked to the fine people at AC-World and we got a great deal. We didn’t feel that we needed to heat or cool the hallways, so the ductless units allowed for classrooms to be kept at a comfortable temperature throughout the school year, with minimal energy use.

We even got everything done by the time school started in the fall. Since we focused on improvements that were also energy efficient (even the extra layer of stucco was and extra layer of insulation), the school administration has already started to notice that the energy bills have gone down this school year. The renovation project will pay for itself in less than 5 years.

I hope that this little article has given you some ideas for improving the school you work at, or the one that your child attends. Remember, it won’t get done on it’s own!