The Harley School is continuously working on projects to make its facility environmentally friendly while offering a sustainability curriculum to students.
The Brighton Chamber of Commerce presented its annual Green Business Award to the Brighton private school for recognizing the importance of sustainable practices in the community.
“We feel great about it,” head of school Tim Cottrell said. “We’re happy the school is a leader in the community in terms of green business practices and, in our specific case, also education for our sustainable future.”
The school’s green initiatives began two years ago with a locker room renovation project. The project used nearly all recycled materials, which doubled its construction cost. High-efficiency mechanical and electrical equipment was installed, reducing power and water usage.
This summer the school is gutting its entire energy system and renovating it with a completely new one. It will cost more than $1 million.
“It includes high-efficiency boilers, a natural gas cogeneration facility and more sensored light controls,” Cottrell said. “The goal is to reduce energy use by 30 percent.”
The future of the green initiatives includes a barn project to house a middle school science center.
Harley’s first building on Clover Street was a renovated barn in the 1920s. The new building is going to be built from recycled materials from the Hawkins Barn, which the school deconstructed in Victor two years ago.
Cottrell is designing a building that will be a LEED-certified net zero energy building project, which would have a carbon footprint of zero. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2011.
The school has also hosted environment meetings including the Student Leadership Summit in Environmental Sustainability in 2009 and the Brighton Environmental Leadership Summit in 2010.
Brighton Chamber of Commerce President Rome Celli was at the student summit and was impressed by the program.
“They’re really doing some amazing things there led by the work of (Harley teachers) Chris Hartman and Karen Berger,” Celli said.
Hartman is the founder of the South Wedge Farmers Market, and Berger was the chair of the Green Brighton Task Force.
“They’ve got greenhouses and composting, and their curriculum has green elements all through it,” Celli added.
Cottrell said it’s all part of the school’s belief that all people have responsibility toward a sustainable future.
“We teach that to our kids, it’s walking the walk — it’s a big part of our curriculum here, and being genuine to our beliefs and values is what we’re all about,” Cottrell said. “We feel that’s a responsible investment in the future.”
