During the 2004-5 school year, the Alliance to Save Energy (Alliance) received a grant from Washington Gas (WG) to initiate a Green School Pilot Program in two schools in Washington DC -- Shaw Junior High and Spingarn High School.
Now, during the 2008-2009 school year, The Alliance to Save Energy has launched a full-scale Green Schools Program known locally as "The Saving Energy in DC Schools Program (SEDS)." Operated in partnership with the DC Energy Office, the program has been authorized by the District of Columbia Public Service Commission which has approved funding for the SEDS Program in DC, under its Natural Gas Trust Fund.
The Program can accommodate 15-18 schools in DC, the majority being comprised of middle schools and high schools. Accordingly, a key feature of the program is the Student Energy Auditor Training program which will train middle and high school students to conduct energy audits of their schools and homes.
A main goal of the DC program is to help students teach their parents and surrounding community members about energy efficiency, so the primary focus of the audit training will be to educate students about energy efficiency in the home, using schools as the demonstration laboratory.
Environmental policy is a hot topic that has spread like wildfire around the country, and DC is at the forefront. The District has been aimed at becoming one of the most aggressively "green" cities in the country by requiring all private builders to also adhere to LEED building standards by 2012 and building the first ever LEED certified sports stadium. Now, Green Schools provides an opportunity for the younger generation to make a contribution to energy conservation and efficiency too.
The school teams from Aidan Montessori School, Alice Deal MS, Capital City PCS, Center City PCS, Gonzaga College HS, Horace Mann School, Key Elementary School, Lafayette Elementary School, McKinley Tech HS, Oyster Adams Bilingual School, Prospect Learning Center, Stoddert Elementary, Washington International School, and Wilson Senior HS participated in a fall professional development workshop and planned activities for the next few months in each of the above target goals, and will begin implementing their plans as soon as they get back to school.
To find out more about this program, please contact Emily Curley, 202-530-2256.
