Proof of Concept project at Bonny Doon Elementary

The Monterey Bay Fund continues to make progress on its Proof of Concept project at Bonny Doon Elementary School in Santa Cruz. MBF is working with its partners RC Cubed, The Santa Cruz County Green Schools program, the Monterey Bay Green Business Program, Cabrillo College, and the Monterey Bay Resource Efficiency Consortium (MBREC) to help Bonny Doon Elementary reduce its energy consumption and costs through energy efficiency measures and a new solar PV renewable energy system. 

On July 26, 2010 a team of Cabrillo College Construction and Energy Management students conducted Phase I of a comprehensive Energy Assessment at the Bonny Doon School campus. The students were led by Steve Murphy (Cabrillo Instructor) and Ana Maria Rebelo (Santa Cruz County Environmental Services Manager and LEED AP), who helped the students uncover opportunities for energy savings that can help the school reduce their consumption and save money. The team of budding energy assessment professionals inspected campus lighting, heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and other campus equipment. The students covered approximately half of the buildings on campus during Phase I of the Assessment, and will return soon to conduct Phase II and assess the remaining buildings.

Phase III of the Energy Assessment will involve creating a comprehensive Report, which will detail the findings and provide prioritized recommendations to the Bonny Doon School Superintendent and Principal Stephanie Siddens. MBCF and our partners will then work with the school to identify available incentives, rebates, and financing that will allow the school to implement the high-priority energy and cost saving measures.

Meanwhile, members of MBREC have been rallying to support MBF with the solar PV system installation component of the Bonny Doon School project. At the July 26th MBREC meeting nearly a dozen experienced industry professionals committed to helping RC Cubed and MBF make a solar PV installation at the school possible. Support for the MBF model and the Bonny Doon project was enthusiastic, and Bonny Doon Superintendent Siddens was on hand to express her appreciation to everyone who is working to make this meaningful project possible.

The MBREC team of volunteers and professionals that have committed to working on the Bonny Doon project ranges from system designers and engineers, NABCEP certified solar pv installers, general contractors, construction and energy instructors, solar equipment manufacturers and suppliers, and civic-minded citizens. The team will begin meeting to begin scoping out the project in August, and is tentatively aiming to complete the project in late Fall of 2011.

The Bonny Doon Elementary School project is meant to be a Proof of Concept effort, to prove how powerful the Monterey Bay Fund model can be. It highlights all of the elements and benefits of the program, including: local job creation and on-the-ground workforce training, local greenhouse gas emission reductions and renewable energy installations, and tapping the emerging carbon market to benefit local schools. 

The MBCF model is proving just how much good we can accomplish when we work together as a community through innovative and environmentally friendly private-public partnerships. The Offset Project is very proud to have developed this amazing program, and we look forward to proving just how meaningful it is through the Bonny Doon Elementary School project and all of the others to come. Stay tuned, we are just getting started!