Article 1: Green Acton Statement on the Proposed New ABRSD Twin School Design & Construction
The Special Town Meeting of December 10 will ask voters about building a new Twin School in West Acton.
Green Acton believes it’s important to recognize that building large new buildings always exacts environmental costs. Those can include the use of virgin materials that may not be reusable or recyclable at the end of the building’s life; use of toxic materials; greenhouse gas emissions embedded in materials production; and impacts to land or water that may border the building.
Because we find ourselves in a global climate emergency, the need to slash greenhouse gas emissions is urgent; this will require electrification of all sectors, a swift transition away from fossil fuel use, and the conversion of electricity supply to renewables.
Given that context, Green Acton especially appreciates the attention paid to energy systems and water use during the design of the new building. There will be no fossil fuels piped into the building, including no methane (“natural”) gas, a poisonous, explosive gas that has an extremely high greenhouse gas impact as it leaks all along the path from production wells to distribution to buildings. Water use is carefully minimized by reusing rainwater and use of low-flow appliances.
The designers looked at various alternatives for heating and cooling the proposed new Twin School, and found that a ground source heat pump system yields the greatest savings in operating costs, and did the best job for the environment. Ground source heat pumps take advantage of the fact that the ground beneath our feet and below the frost line stays at 55 degrees year-round. These systems use a heat-transfer liquid (similar to those used in refrigerators and air conditioning systems), as well as some electricity from the grid, to keep buildings at year-round comfortable temperatures with a high degree of efficiency. Because repayment of the loan for this project is spread out over 30 years, using a ground source heat pump is cash-flow positive immediately.
Green Acton celebrates the clear thinking that has led to this choice of heating and cooling system, and recommends the use of fossil-fuel-free heating and cooling in all new buildings.
Green Acton takes no position on this Article.