“A new year is a new beginning, which is the perfect time to talk about Havergal’s sustainability programs and technologies,” said Havergal's Director of Facilities Lisa Anderson as she presented the school's sustainability practices at Upper School Prayers on January 9. Her presentation introduced the community to the living green roof on the art portable and the solar panel array on the roof of the Upper School. Ms. Anderson also discussed Havergal’s progress in waste diversion over the past few years.
- Living Green Roof: In an effort to reduce energy consumption and to help clean the air, Havergal installed a new art portable with a living green roof last spring, replacing the old portables that were found in the back of the Upper School. This new portable boasts large glass windows to encourage natural light and a living roof system, also known as a green roof. The layers of the living roof system filters pollution out of the air that blows across it; through photosynthesis, plants convert carbon dioxide, water and sunlight into oxygen. The green roof also stabilizes the temperature of the roof to no higher than 25 degrees Celsius, providing a thick layer of insulation, which reduces energy consumption by keeping heat in during the winter and out during the summer (a 25% reduction in heating and cooling costs).
- Solar Panel Array: As a way to produce an alternative source of energy for the school, a group of students and staff worked with Ms. Anderson to have new solar panels installed on the roof above the Legacy Theatre. These solar panels will produce approximately 6,900 kWh AC per year, which is enough energy to run a heater for 19 days, wash 27,000 loads of laundry, make more than 34,000 pots of coffee, run a vacuum cleaner for 5,300 hours (221 days) or power a 10 watt LED bulb for 690,000 hours (78 years). Havergal’s solar panel system powers equipment in the mechanical room located directly below the roof.
- Waste Diversion: Ms. Anderson congratulated the entire Havergal community on improvements over the past two years. October 2013’s waste diversion rate (the percent of our waste no longer going to landfill) was 71%, compared to 46% in October 2012.
For more on sustainability at Havergal, visit www.havergal.on.ca/sustainability.
