Albemarle High School (AHS) has many cultural green contributions. The following describes how Albemarle’s programs would be able to utilize the Energy Efficiency Education Dashboard to tie together the environmental initiatives of Albemarle and allow the students, staff and public to learn more about the school’s efforts.

LEED for Schools:
The most recent addition of Albemarle is going through the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) for Schools certification process. The building incorporated low-emitting materials, water-efficient fixtures, regional materials, recycle content in building materials, FCS-certified wood products, thermal comfort controllability, day lighting, integrated pest management, green cleaning and a green room.

Green Roof Monitoring:
Part of the addition features a green room, and real-time data such as soil temperature, soil moisture, relative humidity and air temperature can be used by the school and community members.

Energy STAR and Energy Management:
Energy usage data is tracked using ENERGY STAR’s Portfolio Manager and the monthly rating is displayed at the front of the school. AHS currently has an ENERGY STAR rating of 83 which means that the school performs better than 83 percent of all similar buildings nationwide.

Air Monitoring Station:
The Department of Environmental Air Quality installed an ambient air monitoring station at the school in 2008. The station measures particulate matter 2.5 micrometers or smaller in size and ozone. The science classes utilize this data from the monitoring station and are able to conduct particulate matter sampling.

Math, Engineering and Science Academy:
At the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year, Albemarle opened the new Math, Engineering and Science Academy. The goal of this “school within a school” is to integrate traditional science and math courses with technology and engineering disciplines in a project-based learning environment to help train scientists and engineers for the 21st century.

Student Involvement:
Students are actively involved with the recycling program and designed a recycling awareness poster which was later used for the entire district to increase recycling awareness. Approximately 17 tons of waste was diverted from the landfill in 2009.  Students are also involved in the annual Envirothon competition, which is a natural resources competition for high school students to learn stewardship and management by solving real and hypothetical environmental problems. Albemarle’s team planned a 610-acre conservation area to stabilize the habitat of the endangered Red-Cockaded Woodpecker species.

Building Automation System:
The building automation system controls and displays HVAC and lighting information. Pulse metering is being installed.