Ecofriendly renovation may save some green
Pledging to go green seems to be reaping the green for Cambridge schools. Last week, the state announced the city will receive a $100,000 grant toward making its only high school energy-efficient and using sustainable materials when it undergoes a major renovation in June 2009, its first in more than 25 years.
The renovation of Cambridge Rindge and Latin School will be the fifth major capital project happening at about the same time. Also under renovation or construction are the main library, a new police station, the West Cambridge Youth Center, and the War Memorial Pool at the high school.
While the $100,000 is only a fraction of the projected cost of the renovation -- estimated to be as high as $75 million by the schools' chief financial officer, James Conry -- it will pay for an in-depth assessment and outline of ecofriendly construction options by local architects. In combination with the nearby War Memorial Pool, the school is the city's largest consumer of energy, says School Committee member Patricia M. Nolan.
Conry said the building is overdue for an overhaul, its last upgrade taking place from 1979 to 1981.
Students would agree. Last winter, many complained about needing to wear hats and coats in classrooms in which heat wasn't working or windows wouldn't close.
The upgrade has been planned for nearly 10 years. Deputy City Manager Richard C. Rossi said talks began in 1998, although a complete proposal wasn't submitted to the state until 2003, just before the School Building Assistance fund tapped out.
However, Cambridge's proposal was grandfathered in whenever that fund was replenished, and the state promised to reimburse about $24 million of the project's cost, as long as work starts by June 2009.
The project will include new heating and ventilation systems and will pipe air conditioning to all parts of the building. Currently, only a few parts of the building have air conditioning, Conry said. Green-minded renovations include double-insulated windows and what's called a white roof, the most energy-efficient roof short of one with greenery.
Architects have estimated that adding green components will cost about $2 million.
"The focus in city policy," said Rossi, "has shifted to include energy efficiency" when constructing new buildings or doing renovations. Going green, he added, "is the right thing to do, and it can be the most cost-efficient option."
Among the ecofriendly features being considered are "lights that turn off when they sense no one in the room and daylight harvesting," by designing a building to make the most use of natural light, Rossi said. "We want to use as many green materials as possible and recycle all the demolition scrap."
The building also needs new flooring, especially in corridors. Conry said many parts of the building are not handicapped accessible, so they will be brought up to code, as will fire doors.
Bathrooms will also see face lifts, possibly including water-saving new toilets.
School Committee member Nancy Walser said the changes will also affect academics, including upgrades to the science labs.
"One thing that surprised us," Walser said, after receiving the recent architects' report, "was how much needs to be done to the exterior. Not much maintenance has been done on it since it was built in 1933."
Despite the planned renovation, the push to opt for energy-efficient methods has occurred only recently. Last year the city determined it wanted to reduce emissions by 20 percent by 2010, and in June the School Committee invited local and state specialists to advise them on how to include ecofriendly elements in the renovation.
At that meeting, a representative for the state announced that grant money would be available, and the city manager applied.
"We can go green, really green, or greenest," said Walser. "But we have to do what will make sense economically and look at the payback for each option."
The financial benefits of solar panels, for instance, are known to take a long time to offset the costs of purchase and installation.
"The mayor said last month that we could go with a Chevy, a
The renovation will be staged over three summers and two academic years, Conry said, so that students can attend classes in the building while the changes take place.
The grant money comes from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's Renewable Energy Trust. Several other area schools also received grants to include energy-efficient options while undergoing updates.
The collaborative estimates that green design can save schools $50,000 to $100,000 per year in utility expenses.
The city plans to pay for the project with a bond.
