PWHS Grad Recommends New, Green High School

The 's Building and Grounds Committee sat down Monday to hear recommendations on efficient and sustainable heating and cooling systems, but — rather than listening to a suits from a green tech company — board members got the scoop from one of the district's own students.

Jill Vande Boom, a 2012 , built her presentation upon a year of independent study at — in biochemistry. Her study, she said, came about through her interest in renewable energy.

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"I always liked the renewable energy area, but I really wasn't sure what that is," Vande Boom said. She took that interest, compounded it with architecture, physics and chemistry and applied it to her own school.

"So, I wrote a paper, designed a school and presented it to you guys," she said.

Her presentation delved into the intricacies of using geothermal energy to heat and cool buildings, covering the different methods and their applications. She even used her research to design a "green" high school, recommending that school officials build it.

Vande Boom said her school design, with geothermal energy as its cornerstone, would make budgeting for energy costs more predictable and divert more resources to the students themselves.

The presentation generated some lively discussion with officials, and Vande Boom fielded questions about potential environmental regulation, similar systems elsewhere and when the system would essentially pay for itself (about 15 years, she said).

Noting the difficulty of building the high school anew, Director of Business Services Jim Froemming asked whether an existing school could be retrofitted with a geothermal system.

"I would say it's harder to do retrofitting, but you can do it," Vande Boom answered. "It just costs more."

"Maybe someday we'll be able to build a new high school," committee chair Brian McCutcheon said. "That would be nice."

Vande Boom said she will attend the Milwaukee School of Engineering next year to study architectural engineering.