Highland Schools are continuing their efforts to improve their energy efficiency. In addition to the installation of LED lighting progressing this summer, they’re also looking to improve their heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. In their first step, the school board approved doing a retro-commissioning study. Superintendent Chris Armstrong explained an electronic model of the entire district will be made, and the school would be able to apply anything to that model to understand the effect it would have on saving the district money. It gives the district the opportunity to know the cost and savings of projects as opposed to guessing or taking a vendor’s word for it.

Further down the road, Armstrong would like the district to look into possible solar and wind energy improvements, and the model will allow them to explore those possibilities. However, the HVAC system is their primary focus for the near future, since Riverside Elementary still has its original and outdated system. Armstrong said there are still rooms in the middle school and high school that are not air conditioned through a central system, and are instead cooled using window units. Additionally, the high school gymnasium doesn’t have any air conditioning.