Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Energy-Efficient Solution Helps Keep School Warm

  • 09/01/15
Energy-Efficient Solution Helps Keep School Warm

Mitsubishi Electric helped give Hollis Montessori both energy efficiency and a great teaching tool for its students.

The Hollis Montessori School (Hollis Montessori), Hollis, N.H., is the first independent school in the country to receive Passive House certification. This certification denotes the school’s extreme energy efficiency and means the facility has met rigorous energy-saving standards. Students have been particularly interested in the equipment on the walls that keeps their classrooms comfortable and their school compliant with Passive House standards. That equipment is part of a Hyper-Heating INVERTER™ (H2i®) system from Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc. Cooling & Heating Division (Mitsubishi Electric).

Mitsubishi Electric was selected as the brand of choice because “the availability of hyper- heating was really important given the rough northeast winters. We also like the track record of performance and reliability with Mitsubishi [Electric], and their extensive service network relative to other manufacturers,” says Jordan Goldman, principal of ZeroEnergy Design (who led the Passive House consultation). Frank Grossman, president, board of directors at Hollis Montessori adds, “Mitsubishi [Electric] also wouldn’t need backup heat.”

Installation “went very smoothly,” says Grossman. Outdoor units were put on stands to maintain efficiency during New Hampshire’s snowy winters. Indoor units were mounted to the wall of each 1,400-square-foot classroom to “simplify the distribution without sacrificing any thermal comfort at all,” said Goldman.

Grossman explains that the school “also added sub-panels throughout the building where students can find out what energy their classroom is using compared to other classrooms.”

Students occasionally ask for the data, which they can see on tablets. It makes them both excited and curious. They try to figure out why one classroom is using more energy than another. The upper elementary kids also do units on energy and are educated about the heat pump system.

www.mitsubishipro.com

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Montclair State University Starts Construction on $120M STEM Building

    Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., recently broke ground on a new $120-million Interdisciplinary Science Building, according to university news. The university partnered with HoK Architects for the project’s design, and it’s scheduled to open in time for the 2028–29 academic year.

  • Cleveland High School Breaks Ground on Modernization

    Portland Public Schools in Portland, Ore., recently announced that construction has begun on a modernization project for Cleveland High School, according to a news release. The existing building will be replaced with a new, 300,000-square-foot facility at the same site.

  • Chartwells Launches Campus Dining Evaluation Framework

    Contract food-service management provider Chartwells Higher Education recently announced the launch of BLUEPRINT, according to a news release. The evaluation framework was designed to provide a data-driven and customizable roadmap towards optimizing campus dining services and, by extension, the student experience.

  • Minnesota District Starts Construction on Early Childhood Learning Center

    Sauk Rapids-Rice Public Schools in Sauk Rapids, Minn., recently announced that construction has begun on a new early childhood learning center and a new outdoor activities complex, according to a news release.