By Sara Ballenger
The future is bright at Blach Intermediate School. The junior high school, built in December of 1958 and remodeled this year, re-opened in August as the first high-performing, energy conscious school in the state - with the help of Pacific Gas & Electric.
Blach School is one of only three schools in California to receive a $500,000 grant from PG&E, to be used for incorporating energy-efficient lighting, heating and ventilation designs into its remodeling and renovation plans.
Of the three schools, Blach is the first school to finish its new construction.
The other schools are located in Oakland and Manteca.
PG&E wants to use Blach as a model school to showcase its energy-saving designs to other schools throughout the state.
PG&E is just one part of a larger group called “The Collaborative for High Performance Schools.” The collaborative began in 1999 when the California Energy Commission brought PG&E and municipal electric companies together to discuss ways to improve the performance of California schools.
The collaborative has since grown to include government, utility and educational organizations, including the California Department of Education.
California schools spend $450 million or nearly 3 percent of their total budgets on energy, according to the collaborative. Nearly 20 to 40 percent or about $150 million statewide could be saved if schools increased energy efficiency of their building designs.
The benefits are not only seen in dollars savings but in an improved physical environment.
“This is a very important statement we are making. When we tell children that school is important, they ought to come to a facility that looks like the adults are serious about education,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Delaine Eastin. Eastin joined representatives from PG&E, the school district and the community in touring the energy-efficient campus, Sept. 26.
“Schools should be the finest buildings in a community. We should treat them as a public temple. The future is happening in these classrooms. It’s time for California to modernize its schools and make them as efficient as they can as a public building.”
Improved facilities can also led to improved learning, Eastin added.
“Studies show a 20 percent score increase in correlation with schools using natural light,” said Beverly Alexander, of PG&E.
“This is just one way to improve public health while reducing pollution, improving learning environments and increasing energy efficiency.”
Natural light is a central part of Blach’s new design.
“We incorporated sophisticated lighting controls, day lighting and additional sources of natural light in our designs,” said Lisa Gelfand, principal architect at Gelfand RNP, the architectural firm who designed Blach’s new campus.
“We use sun to light the classrooms, you can see light and be aware of it. We want people to be awake to the whole variety of experience - to see light and understand it’s efficiency.”
Aside from the use of natural light, the classrooms have a state-of-the-art teaching wall with storage behind it for teachers, a large sliding glass door which can be opened to add extra ventilation or make it easy for classes to be held outside, and state-of-the-art heating and cooling systems. Every classroom, new or renovated, has the same features, Gelfand added.
“It’s so much more than we could have hoped for,” said Dave McNulty, who was in charge of construction for the school district during the time Blach was renovated.
