As extreme weather becomes more intense and more frequent, school districts are increasingly adding resilient solutions to their facilities. Achieving resiliency can look very different depending on regional needs, and choosing the right projects for your building portfolio can be challenging. One key element to resiliency includes strengthening your facilities wherever possible. But with budgets tighter than ever, knowing where to begin is not always straightforward. 

A robust approach is to apply the principles of the hierarchy of needs to resiliency. Explore more about this concept in the Extreme Weather Prep Fact Sheet. Ranking projects this way establishes levels of risk and benefit for each school district and makes it easier to adjust to unique climates and circumstances. 

The extreme weather hierarchy of needs

Level 1: Updating outdated equipment

Outdated equipment is often the weakest link, breaking first when systems are stressed. If your district is seriously behind in infrastructure updates, you are not alone. The Government Accountability Office reports that more than half of the public school districts in the U.S. need to update or replace building systems.  

Systems like HVAC, electricity, plumbing and water are foundational to everything schools do. Old systems can be glitchy and fail to reboot after unplanned outages due to extreme weather. While other updates may seem more attractive, repairing and updating these systems should be the top priority. Without them, other updates may even be a waste of money if you can’t keep schools open due to unsafe conditions. 

Level 2: Securing your building envelope

Water is the enemy of every building and older buildings, including many school facilities, are particularly vulnerable to its destructive nature. A small amount of water can quickly become a big problem and persist for a long time. In addition to the initial damage, humidity and mold can cause significant long-term health issues. 

We also know students and staff perform better, attend more consistently and enjoy a higher quality of life when they’re not continuously exposed to hazardous air quality conditions. Science Direct published a case study in which 82% of study participants reported that their health improved after moving from a moisture-damaged school facility to a new, cleaner environment. Measurable pulmonary function returned to normal after just a few months.

Remediating water and mold damage is an important starting point when completing that maintenance to-do list. Going a step further and ensuring it doesn’t happen again is the power move to keep buildings in shape for years to come. Ensure that your roofs, windows and doors are doing their job to keep your facilities safe and weather-tight. Maintain them well and, when needed, replace them. Investment in these critical items is a much better use of funds than continuously repairing them in hopes they’ll hold when the next extreme weather event comes along... and then repairing them when they fail yet again.  

Level 3: Using renewable energy for stability

The best way to avoid power outages is to implement onsite power generation – often in the form of a renewable energy microgrid system. For districts that have already updated their outdated equipment and secured all their building envelopes, renewable energy is the ultimate upgrade to equip your district to withstand extreme climate events or seasons.

Protecting your buildings from energy outages that hit your surrounding community makes your district a literal powerhouse. With a microgrid, your own on-site power generation can keep the lights on and climate controls working. Your building can serve as a safe space for providing shelter, distributing resources and educating children. 

Even if you’re not able to reach the gold standard of a fully functioning microgrid, adding renewable energy to your infrastructure portfolio is a win-win for all stakeholders. Take a look at Onsted Community Schools, MI, which used renewable solar energy to unlock funding for other projects that positively impact learning outcomes. The on-site availability of this modern technology provides excellent, hands-on learning opportunities for students. 

Plus, renewable energy, like solar power, can reduce a significant line item in your budget – utility costs. According to Stanford University, educational institutions account for approximately 11% of energy consumption by buildings in the United States. They state, “Taking advantage of all viable space for solar panels could allow schools to meet up to 75 percent of their electricity needs and reduce the education sector’s carbon footprint by as much as 28 percent.”

Starting where you are

As we tell students, ‘the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,’ and so does the journey toward making K12 schools energy-efficient and resilient. It’s unrealistic to think that every district will be covered with solar arrays powering microgrids tomorrow. But each step in this extreme weather hierarchy of needs has value. It’s okay to start small! Every system update, new roof and window replacement is a step in the right direction. 

At Energy Systems Group, modernizing school facilities is our highest priority. We partner with K12 districts to conduct severe weather audits, develop prioritized recommendations and provide project management and execution. 

Discover practical solutions to boost your district's resilience and efficiency with our Extreme Weather Prep Fact Sheet.