In a bold move toward a sustainable district, Highland is set to be rebuilt with innovative, sustainable features such as ground heating, solar panels, and other sustainability projects that will help the district reach their goal of being one-hundred percent carbon neutral by 2040.
The Salt Lake City School District’s bond to rebuild Highland, West, and other district facilities passed in the recent election on Nov 5, 2024. The bond is also set to include 82 million dollars for sustainable upgrades to current buildings and fund sustainable features in new buildings.
The bond intends to rebuild Highland and West with onsite solar panels, fund ground source heat pumps at 13 schools and facilities, and fund other projects to help the district meet their goal of being one-hundred percent carbon neutral by 2040.
In 2020, the school board adopted a student-proposed Sustainability Resolution to use 100% renewable energy by 2030 and be 100% carbon neutral by 2040. Strategies included in this plan were composed of the installation of solar panels, improved recycling systems, ground source heat pumping, and the potential of using zero-scape landscaping to minimize water usage.
After the bond passed, the district has been in a rush to finalize blueprints and timelines for the new facility to break ground in spring of 2026 while scraping together every method of energy conservation and sustainable practices.
“From the initial numbers that I am seeing, the new building will be done by 2030,” Highland principal Jeremy Chatterton said.
Last year, tests conducted on the north end of the school determined that the new school will be able to use ground source heat pumping, which will be a major source in helping the district eliminate carbon emissions. The ground source heating system includes installing piping under the school that harnesses heat by running liquid through the piping.
“It takes a lot of land, you have to drill really deep to get a benefit from that. But the hope is that would be the thing that makes Highland High School, the new building, incredibly efficient if we are able to do ground source heat pump,” Gregory Libecci, the district Energy and Sustainability Program Manager, said.
Currently, about 29% of the district’s energy usage emissions comes from natural gas usage. The main purpose of natural gas in buildings is to heat. Alongside the natural gas usage, electricity makes up 64% of the district’s energy usage emissions. In order to minimize this usage, the new facility will include solar panel powering.
“The understanding is that the new Highland will have solar panels in such a way that we will not need outside electricity,” Chatterton said.
By doing this, utility costs and emissions will be cut immensely, saving the district money and helping them towards their carbon neutrality goal.
Other than heating and electricity, other strategies that are being proposed to be implemented in schools include electrifying all school buses, implementing sustainability education, and improving the current recycling system.
The district is currently only purchasing electric school buses, which has contributed to their goal, but some vehicles still operate under gasoline or diesel. The remaining 7% of emissions from energy usage comes from the transportation sector. Once all buses are electrified, this number will also be cut.
The rebuild of Highland represents more than new walls of a classroom; it will also be a stepping-stone towards carbon neutrality. By incorporating energy efficient cooling and heating systems, electricity, and landscaping, the project aligns with the district’s goal of being carbon neutral by 2040 and provides a space for students to learn about sustainability and clean energy that will support the planet for centuries to come.
