Millbrook Joins Green Schools Alliance as Charter Member
Our faculty, staff, and students continually strive to be better stewards of the environment. At Millbrook we have taken steps to reduce our electrical consumption (which led to our win of the 2007 Green Cup Challenge and keeps us focused for the 2008 GCC) while having ongoing dialogue regarding how we can continue to green our campus (in meetings of the Environmental Council and SCAPE), and we're going for the gold (LEED certified gold) in the design and construction of our new Math and Science Center. This is just a quick sampling of the community efforts being made.
Thus, joining the Green Schools Alliance as a charter member seemed a natural choice. The Green Schools Alliance (GSA) is new initiative comprised of institutions as well as individuals, dedicated to working with and within schools to increase environmental awareness and implement energy and resource efficiency. It began as a rather local initiative and is blossoming into a national entity. In fact, the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) will be promoting the GSA this month at its national conference which will be held in New York City.
Along with eighteen other private schools, Millbrook signed the GSA's Green Schools Climate Commitment to become "active participants in global efforts to conserve energy and resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and prepare citizens to think and act in new and creative ways."
The goal we are actively working towards: to reduce our school's carbon emissions by at least 30% within five years and to achieve carbon neutrality by the year 2020. The GSA has put together a list of action items to help schools achieve this goal. Millbrook is a little ahead of the curve, since we had many of their suggested actions already in place including:
· Creating a school task force to lead the development and implementation of our conservation plan
· Establishing a policy of new campus construction being at least LEED Silver standard.
· Adopting an energy-efficient appliance purchasing policy
· Raising awareness among community members about energy efficiency and sustainability
We are working on other ways of supporting this effort, and we plan to implement over time:
· Using and/or producing at least 15% of our energy consumption through renewable resources
· Conducting a campus-wide energy benchmark audit followed by annual reports
· The development of a comprehensive action plan to reduce our school’s carbon emissions
There is much to look forward to and plenty to be excited about right now. We are proud to be one of the first 200 schools to sign the GSA Climate Commitment and anticipate learning much from the other schools while sharing our own experiences. Additionally, we look forward to the support we’ll gain from the GSA, including aggregate pricing on renewable resources and more access to funding.
We are lucky to have Mrs. Jane Meigs spearheading many of our efforts on campus. Should you have any questions about the Green Schools Alliance or the Climate Commitment, please contact her directly.
