Strong mountain winds will power lights and science curriculum
NEDERLAND – Last week, Boulder Valley School District added wind power to the mix of renewable energy sources at work across the district with the installation of a 45-foot tall wind turbine at Nederland Middle/Senior High School. The school sits at the bottom of a mountain valley just west of Nederland where high winds are common. That wind now will be put to use by the 2.4 kW turbine which on average will produce enough electricity to light several classrooms.
“While it will produce clean electricity for the school, we expect the biggest value of this project will be the educational benefit to the students at the school and in our district,” said, BVSD Sustainability Coordinator Ghita Carroll, Ph.D.
The school will have access to live data from the turbine's generation and plans are in the works to incorporate lessons about renewable energy and the wind turbine into the curriculum. Students district wide will have access to the data, and will be able to see how the turbine in Nederland performs compared to similar turbines at schools across the nation.
The $20,000 wind project was funded through a grant from the Governor’s Energy Office Wind for Schools Program and Xcel Energy’s Renewable Energy Trust Fund. “We are so grateful to the funders for making this project possible,” said Carroll. “We are thrilled to have this new opportunity to explore and learn about wind energy. This project is a great example of progress being made toward our district's sustainability goals.”
The school will host a ribbon cutting event on Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. to celebrate the completion of Bond improvements at the school and the installation of the turbine.
About GreenBVSD
In the past two years, BVSD developed a Sustainability Management System (SMS) and has launched several “greenBVSD” initiatives. The SMS defines a vision, goals and strategies for achieving district-wide environmental sustainability, and serves as a roadmap for integrating these concepts into the curriculum and operations. For information about BVSD’s green initiatives, please visit http://bvsd.org/green/Pages/default.aspx or contact Ghita.Carroll@bvsd.org.