B.C. school districts have an interest in saving money and being conscientious about energy use. The Delta School District is among those leading the charge by tapping into B.C.’s Public Sector Energy Conservation Agreement fund.

Terasen Gas and the B.C. Government are providing $6.9 million for 35 energy projects in ten school districts to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and costs.

One of those school districts is School District #6, with J.A. Laird Elementary School and Edgewater Elementary School lined up for new energy projects in 2011.

“We applied for funding for 10 different projects, and these two were the ones chosen,” said Craig Edwards, energy manager of School District #6. “They went with the projects with the most economic payback and highest greenhouse gas reduction.”

The projects range from energy infrastructure upgrades to solar wall installations to state-of-the-art geoexchange systems buried beneath 11 Delta School District playing fields to capture the heating and cooling properties of the earth

J.A. Laird is under the “Solar Air Projects” listings. It will be getting a south-facing solar panel wall against the gym, as well as a solar air preheat ventilation system. The estimated greenhouse gas reduction after this project is completed is 28 per cent.Edgewater Elementary will have its propane-fuelled rooftop units replaced with electric heat pumps. The estimated greenhouse gas reduction once this project is completed is 62 per cent.

“We hope to work on both projects this summer,” said Edwards. “The Rocky Mountain School District has a strong focus on environmental stewardship and energy consumption, which both projects focus on.”

The combined annual energy savings from the 35 total projects are estimated at nearly $720,000 and annual greenhouse gas reductions of almost 2,800 tonnes, which is the same as removing over 600 cars from the road annually.