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| on the mountain winter 2013-2014
SKS
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News
THE STORM KING SCHOOL TO ACQUIRE
ENERGY FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES
By Xenia Ferencevych
AS PART OF ITS
ongoing commitment to become a greener,
more sustainable institution, The Storm King School will begin
consuming electricity generated by local wind farms and natu-
ral gas, the production of which will be mitigated one hundred
percent with carbon offsets. To that end, SKS has chosen the
renewable energy supplier Viridian Power Company, headquar-
tered in Stamford, Connecticut.
Viridian Independent Associate Eric Stewart says that the
school is on the vanguard of using alternative energy to power
its facilities. While New York State has allowed an open electric-
ity and natural gas market for many years, it has recently seen
an increase in the number of companies offering alternative
energy sources. According to Mr. Stewart, only about 20% of
customers in New York
know they now have the
option to choose another
supplier of power, as
opposed to traditional
utilities. “I feel this is a
tremendous opportunity
for the school, Viridian
and the environment…
now The Storm King
School is helping to
contribute to this huge
ripple effect on a cleaner,
healthier and greener
grid,” says Mr. Stewart.
SKS will acquire
electricity powered by
wind from U.S. wind
farms, which includes
the High Sheldon Wind
Farm in Strykersville,
N.Y. The school has also
enrolled in Viridian’s “Simply Right 100” natural gas plan that
provides for 100% carbon offsets, i.e. the replacement of all of
the carbon it expends in producing the natural gas. One of the
offsets includes planting trees in places such as the Amazon.
The company provides a yearly sustainability report, audited
by Ernst & Young that lists its sources of power:
com/assets/marketing/Sustainability_Report_2012.pdf.
“
I think it’s incumbent on us as a 21st-century school
to do it, to teach our kids about it, to be consistent with
the movement to create a sustainable planet,” says Storm
King Headmaster Paul Domingue. The school has already
implemented a series of ecologically beneficial changes
including installing ultra high efficiency natural gas furnaces
and high efficiency lighting, introducing a campus-wide
recycling program and employing a landscaper that uses all
natural fertilizers and pest control methods.
The school’s well-regarded food service program provides
students with meals made with natural and, when in season,
organic ingredients from local farms in the Hudson Valley. “We
are always looking for new ways to incorporate our local farm-
ers into our menus. For example, most of the ingredients in our
salad bar come from a local, aquaponic farm which is organic,
and soon they will not only provide us with lettuce but fresh
salmon and tilapia,” says SKS Head Chef Moises Ortega. The
dining hall also serves locally produced dairy and is currently
looking into locally sourced meats.
Another plan, currently in its design stage, is the building of
a highly efficient and environmentally sound wastewater treat-
ment plant on school grounds. “I’m committed to making this
a greener campus, and to bring it as far along that road as our
resources permit,” says Mr. Domingue.
SKS will acquire electricity powered by wind from the High Sheldon Wind
Farm in Strykersville, N.Y., like this one shown.
© PEDROSALA, FOTOLIA.COM
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