Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Santa Barbara School District Approves Renewable Energy Project

  • By Yvonne Marquez
  • 01/07/20

The Santa Barbara Unified School District unanimously approved a plan for a new energy initiative at its last school board meeting, reported the Santa Barbara Independent. If completed, the district will install solar energy, battery storage, and electrical vehicle charging stations at school sites districtwide.

With an increase in natural disasters and public safety power shutoffs in Santa Barbara, the district is considering a renewable energy infrastructure that would allow district schools to serve its community during emergencies. Community members would be able to come to school sites to charge devices, eat and store perishable foods, and if needed during an evacuation, the schools would be able to power the site for 3-5 days.

The school board approved the first six steps of this renewable energy project. The steps involved partnering with two environmental firms — Clean Coalition and Sage Energy Consulting — to complete a feasibility study by June 2020. If the project is financially feasible, the district will negotiate a power-purchase agreement with the firms, move forward with construction, and have all infrastructure and systems running by 2022.

The Clean Coalition has been designing community microgrids, which are like smaller versions of the electric grid but “can serve entire communities by providing indefinite renewables-driven resilience to the most critical community loads — and serve all loads for significant portions of time.” The project includes 18 prospective solar-driven microgrid and electric vehicle charging stations throughout the district.

The initial project management costs involved in the first six steps is $287,900 and is being paid from the State Facility Grant Matching funds.

About the Author

Yvonne Marquez is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • College of the Desert Hits Construction Milestone on New Campus

    College of the Desert recently announced that the construction of its new Palm Springs Campus in Palm Springs, Calif., recently reached a major construction milestone, according to a news release. The college is partnering with general contractor C.W. Driver Companies, which recently “topped out” the facility by placing the final beam in its structure.

  • Photo credit - Chuck Coates

    Florida District Modernizes Central Energy Plants at Two High Schools

    Flagler Schools, a public school district in Flagler County, Fla., recently partnered with Matern Professional Engineering to modernize the central energy plants at two of its high schools, according to a news release. The project is part of a larger, district-wide effort to reduce energy costs and operational expenses.

  • How a Portable Sink Helped an Art Classroom Run More Smoothly

    Classroom design decisions can have outsized effects on instructional time and safety at schools juggling mismatched infrastructure, strict budgets, and crowded schedules — particularly in the arts. Between spilled paint and dirty brushes, art classes run smoother with a sink in the studio. But many schools don’t have a sink in every art classroom.

  • South Carolina District Starts Construction on $50M Middle School Renovation

    The Aiken County Public School District in North Augusta, S.C., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the $50-million renovation and expansion of North Augusta Middle School, according to a news release. The project’s funding comes from the 2024 renewal of a one-cent sales tax approved by local voters.