Sustainability center set to break ground next spring

Construction of Whitefish High School’s Center for Applied Sustainability is expected to begin next spring and funding for the $1.7 million project is expected to be secured by the end of this year.

Superintendent Heather Davis Schmidt gave an update on the greenhouse and outdoor learning center Nov. 8 during the School Board of Trustees meeting. She said construction is expected to begin in March 2017 and completion of the building is set for November next year.

Two-thirds of the project’s total required $1.7 million has been secured, and Davis Schmidt said the remaining funding is expected to be secured next month. The next step for the district is to develop job descriptions for two new positions for the center, facility manager and education coordinator, and begin the hiring process in the spring.

The center, which the board approved in August, will feature a greenhouse, energy systems, laboratories, orchards, gardens and an experimental forest. Designed to be a net-zero facility, the center will be powered and heated by geosolar, geothermal and solar energy systems. The center is to be located on 3 acres north of the high school entry.

Construction costs are to be paid for entirely through private donations, with $1.2 million designated for the facility, another $200,000 for landscaping and $300,000 for phasing in the instructional programming and maintenance.

Scott Elden, of Montana Creative Architecture + Design, said a key component of the project has been to include local businesses in the process, like contracting with Bridgewater Innovative Builders and using local sources for as much of the center as possible.

“We wanted timely pricing and timely methods that are available here to be embedded in the design,” he said. “That’s been very fruitful.”

The main priority, however, is building a Center for Applied Sustainability that is truly sustainable. Elden said the goal is for the building to run at a net zero for energy use over the course of each year. One example of how this could be done is to earn energy credits from Flathead Electric Co-op over the summer, when more energy is produced than used, that can be redeemed in the winter when more energy is required.

Mark Van Everen, of Bridgewater Builders, said achieving the goal isn’t going to be easy.

“The hard thing about what we’ve learned is trying to achieve the goal of net zero — it’s difficult to do in Montana,” he said. “We live in a harsh climate.”

Keeping the center prepared for potential technology breakthroughs in the coming years was a concern for the board.

Trustee Heather Vrentas noted that the design and the size of the solar panels are based on best estimates for what the building will use.

“How flexible is it if five years down the road when there’s whole new technology that we want to bring in or there’s a new use for the building?” Vrentas asked.

Elden said while over-investing in current technology is not the wisest choice, given the rapid rate of change in solar technology, if anything were to change it would be the size of the solar panels getting smaller.

“If tech goes the way we hope it does, then it’s reasonable that the amount of space required to be covered by solar panels would go down,” Elden said. “We want to be able to expand or accommodate new technology.”

Elden said they are also looking at the possibility of corporate sponsorship to help with immediate and long-term funding. It is not clear whether that sponsorship would be more than a written endorsement, but right now Elden said he is compiling a list of businesses that might be interested.

Director of curriculum and instruction Ryder Delaloye said the school district has also been invited to join a cohort of schools by the Green Schools Alliance, an international organization that advances student success and saves school resources by fostering whole school sustainability. The cohort would involve a series of webinars on sustainability topics and would eventually culminate in a national conference on “green” schools.

In the future, Delaloye said, the Green Schools Alliance hopes Whitefish will be able to lead a cohort of four to five other Montana schools, taking a central role by demonstrating the center and helping other schools get started on their own sustainable projects.

“I think what’s helpful for all of us is really how much of a model this is. The level of work and focus that everybody brings to it really exemplifies what we’re doing here and how exemplary it is,” Delaloye said. “To have this in a K-12 level is exceptional.”

The project calls for the greenhouse and classroom building to be located near the center of the property with the adjacent production farm and orchard running along Pine Avenue. An experimental forest, with a trail running through the center, will wrap the northeast corner of the property. A native grass wet meadow and outdoor classroom are planned for along the southern edge of the area.