The Boulder Valley School District is building on 20 plus years of environmental stewardship and embracing environmental sustainability at a new level. The district hired a Sustainability Coordinator in the summer of 2008 and is created a Sustainability Management System in the 2008/2009 school year. In doing this, BVSD is better coordinating existing efforts, as well as defining goals and visions around sustainability at a district level for the first time. 

Two of BVSD’s longest standing green programs are the district-wide recycling program, run by Eco-cycle, and the award-winning alternative transportation program. Eco-cycle offers educational presentations and field trips on numerous environmental topics and provides on-site collection for recyclables and compost. 

Some newer programs include:

• NEW!!! We completed a report detailing green design in our phase I bond projects. Find the press release here and find the report in its entirety here. Over the past spring and summer we were able to divert from landfills much of the furniture coming out of our schools (due to bond upgrades) for reuse and recycling through partnerships with Resource and our incredible warehouse staff. We received some positive press on these efforts which you can read about here. Channel 9 news also did a story on our successful efforts to reuse and recycle furniture.
• An Xcel Energy grant to participate in a retro-commissioning study, or energy “tune up”, at Centaurus High School. This study will take place over the next year, to capture the change in heating and cooling requirements throughout the seasons. If this pilot project is a success and helps us discover further resource saving opportunities, we will identify other schools for retro-commissioning projects.
• BVSD has been selected by Xcel as a primary participant in Xcel’s new Smart Grid program. Xcel will be placing smart grid meters on all BVSD schools in the City of Boulder. This will give us more accurate billing data, and very timely information about how our buildings are using electricity, which will be invaluable for future energy education campaigns.
• BVSD is partnering with the Center for Resource Conservation’s “Renew our Schools” Program to award, via a grant application process, solar arrays to BVSD schools in Boulder County. Two buildings, Aurora 7 (High Peaks and BCSIS) and Arapahoe Ridge, received free 10kW photovoltaic (PV) systems in the 2008/2009 school year.
• A transition to the use of green cleaning products in all schools
• A switch to paperless distribution of newsletters and documents in many departments
• Use of greener business practices in daily operations
• Selection of BVSD as a pilot school district for Integrated Pest Management practices
• We are kicking off a pilot education campaign in partnership with New Vista High School. We are working with an enthusiastic group of students and teachers at the school, and have the support of their new Principal, Kirk Quitter. Stay tuned for more news on this project, which we hope to expand to other BVSD schools in the coming years.

Download a mid-year report on sustainability, submitted to Superintendent Chris King in January 2009. This report outlines many of our existing accomplishments, as well as several new developments.

Stay tuned for more exciting developments on this initiative, and look for the green BVSD logo to signify efforts that fall under the umbrella of environmental sustainability.