School District 43's new energy manager is predicting a green future as schools renew their pledge to cut waste, paper and energy use for the new year.
Dave Sands, who was hired July 1 to head up the district's green strategy, has several projects on the go to boost energy savings and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The former Castle Park elementary school principal said he's facing a "steep learning curve" but will be following through on initiatives started by the previous energy and sustainability principal, Mark Clay, who is now a principal at Maillard middle.
Sands takes on the job as the district has to look further and work harder to reduce energy and conserve paper if it wants to whittle down the carbon offsets it pays to the Pacific Carbon Trust.
Last year, SD43 contributed $260,000 to the trust compared to $400,000 for Vancouver school district and $500,000 contributed by Surrey school district. In all, B.C. schools and health authorities paid $18 million into the fund, which funds private sector energy initiatives.
There appears to be no appetite at this time to change the way carbon offsets are calculated or paid, according to Sands, and he expects to start adding up the district's energy and paper consumption to calculate the offsets this month.
It's too early to say whether the district will see any reduction in offsets even though it has installed new heating, air conditioning and ventilating systems in three elementary schools and recently upgraded lighting at six schools. "We're hoping it's going to be the same or a little bit less," Sands said.
Two big projects underway include composting green waste at schools that have the capacity, and reducing paper with a new print strategy. The district is looking at replacing old equipment with new multi-function printer, fax, scanner and copiers that are more efficient and save energy, as well as paper which is a major contributor to SD43's carbon offset calculation.
"The print strategy piece is really around reducing our paper use and copying. That's around behavioural change - how we're providing resources for kids. We really want to start to work towards that," Sands said.
On the composting front, Sands said he is working with Port Moody, Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam municipalities so more schools compost their green waste. Other projects for 2012 include the following:
One new school, Heritage Mountain middle, and three new schools - James Park elementary, Pitt River middle and Centennial secondary - will all be built to the highest environmental standards for LEED gold status.
Pulse metres will be installed by BC Hydro at 14 schools to measure energy use and find possible efficiencies
Twenty schools will be studied for potential Power Smart lighting upgrades
The district will be looking at using LED lights for exterior lighting and replacing old monitors with newer, more energy efficient LCD monitors, with Moody middle school as the pilot.
Sands will also be working with the IT department to come up with ways to reduce the need for paper in schools through the use of technology.
