School district going greener

Wind turbine, curriculum help

By Adam Bosch

Times Herald-Record

February 06, 2008

MONTICELLO — With an energy-producing wind turbine as its centerpiece, the Monticello School District will upgrade its energy infrastructure and create a new curriculum aimed at preparing students for "green-collar" jobs.

By fall of this year, the district hopes to install a wind turbine on property between the high school and Rutherford Elementary. Monticello expects the state to approve the project by April. It would be the first wind-power turbine at a public school in our region, and about the 12th in the entire state, a spokesman for the state Education Department said.

The 22-foot diameter turbine will stand on a 100-foot-high support structure. At 11,000 kilowatt hours per year, it will produce nearly enough energy to power two average homes. The power will be used to offset energy consumption at Monticello High School.

Monticello's energy savings...

Energy upgrades planned throughout the Monticello School District, and estimated annual cost savings tied to each upgrade:

Energy Upgrade Annual Cost Savings

Efficient boilers $16,000

New lighting system $70,000

Lighting sensors/controls: $7,000

Computerized monitoring

for all energy systems: $112,000

Motion sensors on

vending machines: $3,000

Efficient bus heaters: $13,000

Wind energy turbine: $1,200

According to a report from Ameresco, the district's energy consultant, these upgrades will also cut the district's fuel oil consumption by 55,000 gallons each year.

"It won't power our entire high school, but it's a good start," district Superintendent Patrick Michel said. "We have to start looking to the future because we're paying out the nose for petroleum products."

Wind power is the highlight of Monticello's energy performance contract with Ameresco, an energy consulting company based in Framingham, Mass. On top of roughly $7 million in state aid, Ameresco will invest $4 million in energy upgrades throughout Monticello School District, Michel said.

Ameresco's profit is tied directly to Monticello's improved efficiency. The district will pay a capped percentage of its energy cost savings to Ameresco. The contract between Ameresco and Monticello will last 15 years, school board President Robert Stewart said.

"It will allow us to save energy and save money at the same time," he said.

Upgrades will reach many facets of Monticello's power consumption, from installing efficient boilers to adding motion sensors that will turn off vending machines when nobody is in the cafeteria.

Monticello will use its wind turbine for more than producing electricity.

In the next two years, the district will form a curriculum in which students can learn to monitor, install and repair green technologies, like wind turbines, geo-thermal heating systems, and solar electricity equipment.

"Our shop classes have been wonderful, but I'm not convinced that a kid who rolls out of our shop class can get a job to support a family with," Michel said. "That's why we'll expand the technology department to train non-college bound students for 'green-collar' jobs."

Monticello students will have a great advantage in that market by having a wind turbine to monitor and learn from at the high school, Michel said.