Westtown School Receives Energy Efficient Schools Award

WEST CHESTER, PA -- The students and staff of the Westtown School have been working hard over the past few years to reduce energy consumption by 10 percent, channeling that money directly into new curriculum. To honor their accomplishments, they have been selected as one of only three schools in Pennsylvania to receive the annual Moving to the Head of the Class: Energy Efficient Schools Award on May 18, the school announced in a news release.

The three winning schools and two honorable mentions have collectively saved more than $500,000 and 4,830,389 kilowatt hours of energy.

Led by Wade Tomlinson, director of sustainability, the school has committed to a variety of initiatives to reduce its economic impact and save money, including:

· Building an LEED Certified Gold science building, which saves 31 percent more energy a year than comparable buildings

· Purchasing 100 percent of energy through wind energy credits

· Developing a Sustainability Master Plan to ensure curriculum and programming engages the students in their initiatives

· Installing a solar array in the next five years to generate energy

· Maximizing geothermal heating throughout the campus

The statewide award, offered by the Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance Energy Education Fund (KEEF) along with funding from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, PECO and PPL Electric Utilities, recognizes schools that have reduced energy consumption by at least 5 percent in the last year.

In addition to the public recognition, the school will receive either an Energy Star Certification from Warren Energy, PJM qualifications from EMC or three vouchers for the prestigious Energypath 2016 conference.