By Noah Bell
Theme Editor
More than a year after Mira Costa installed its first-ever solar panels in the student parking lot and light-emitting diode lights in classrooms, students and staff alike are seeing on-campus trends toward increased energy efficiency both in and out of the classroom.
The school installed solar panels above the student parking lot and on the top of the math and science buildings over a year ago. Built not only for solar energy, but to also provide shade for students’ cars located in the lot, the solar panels marked Costa’s first major step into becoming an energy-efficient school.
The Manhattan Beach Unified School District is currently looking at potential implementation of additional solar panels in the future. MBUSD approved the plan for the solar panels in 2012 and installed them during the summer of 2015. The total cost of the solar panels was $2.2 million, paid for by Proposition 39, according to MBUSD Superintendent Dr. Michael Matthews. The solar panels have been functioning as of May of this year.
“In our next construction project, there may be more solar projects and energy-efficient classrooms,” Matthews said. “We will examine that as we move forward.”
The energy produced by the solar panels is sufficient to power Costa’s entire campus, Advanced Placement Environmental Science teacher Trevor Oystrick said. In addition to saving energy costs through the solar panels, Costa has been using LED lights in its classrooms. These energy-efficient lights have a longer life span than fluorescent lights and give off less heat when in operation.
They also do not contain mercury and are reducing maintenance costs, as they do not need to be charged as often, Matthews said. LED lights in all classrooms come with sensors that both dim the lights when there is a lot of sunlight and also turn off the lights when no one is in the classroom.
Benefits of using LED lighting in classrooms
Through its use of energy-saving solar panels and LED lights, Costa is finding additional environmentally friendly methods of powering the campus both in and out of the classroom.
“We hope our students learn to reduce, reuse, and recycle, thus making the world a better and more sustainable place for themselves and for future generations,” Matthews said.
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