Oct. 20, 2016 – The Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District is further increasing its sustainability efforts to align with Goal 5 of the Strategic Plan by beginning the Green Apple Project throughout the district.
Goal 5 of the Strategic Plan is aligned around operational resources including finance, technology and facilities. Objective 2 under this goal states that “district operations will be more sustainable and have reduced cost.”
One strategy to accomplish this object is to reduce energy consumption, and that is where the Green Apple Project comes in. CHUH recently partnered with Brewer-Garrett to “choose green” in order to take care of our resources while also saving the district money.
The Green Apple Project is focused on saving energy through behavior changes. CHUH knows that our actions can have a significant impact on the environment. We care about our environment and the future of our students and children.
The school district has committed to reducing its environmental impact by reducing energy use and solid waste.
The Green Apple Project seeks to engage the school community to attain this goal by helping to identify and implement energy reduction opportunities. It is estimated that we can reduce our energy costs by 20% by implementing a number of energy savings procedures throughout the district building.
The district’s new Energy Coach, Ditte Wolin, is leading the sustainability efforts for CHUH. Wolin, whose position is funded through Brewer-Garrett, is a familiar face within the district as a longtime assistant in the high school music department.
Wolin will be creating
“Green Teams,” which will be centered in each school across the district.
The Green Team Members could be teachers, non-teaching staff, custodians, or students who want to work together to make the Green Apple Project a success.
What will the Green Team do?
- Provide input on energy savings opportunities to focus on.
- Provide input on areas where students might be engaged.
- Identify barriers that prevent people from saving energy.
- Assist in finding solutions to overcome those barriers.
- Assist the energy coach in modeling the vision to peers.
For more information on the Green Apple Project, visit http://greenappleproject.com/.
CHUH is committed to working together and doing our part to “go green” and save energy.
