District reports energy, water and embodied‑carbon reductions in referendum school designs

District sustainability staff told the operations work group that phase‑one referendum buildings achieved notable performance goals and that staff are translating those gains into operational and new construction practices.

Grant Klair, sustainability manager, said the phase‑one schools are designed for a target energy use of 25 kBtu per square foot (about half the Wisconsin average), will use geothermal and no on‑site fossil fuels, and include roughly half a megawatt of solar per school. Design documents show a 19% reduction in embodied carbon from a project baseline and a 30% reduction in site water use through low‑flow fixtures and water‑management strategies.

Staff also described district operational work: utility‑data monitoring identified an overcharging due to a mis‑sized gas meter and recovered refunds; retro‑commissioning is targeting high‑use buildings; milk‑carton recycling rolled out to ~85% of schools; and the district will install EV chargers at multiple sites under a county grant. Sustainability staff stressed the role of grants and referendum funding in enabling these measures.

What's next: Staff plan continued retro‑commissioning, public‑facing energy dashboards for schools, and community‑facing sustainability programs tied to curriculum and outdoor learning areas planned in phase‑two designs.