Kinard was originally built in 2006 and cost approximately

$17,000,000 to construct ($150/sq.ft.) Almost a decade

later, we are proud to say that Kinard is still the most

energy efficient school building in the State of Colorado.

On average, our school uses less energy per square foot

than any other site,. approximately 22 kBtu/sq. ft./yr.

Pick up a building tour brochure from the office and follow

the self-guided tour signs to learn more!

1 Kinard’s Green School Overview

Kinard has scored a perfect 100, based on Energy Star rating standards. In fact, Kinard was the first school in the nation to move from a “Designed to Earn” Energy Star status to being awarded the Energy Star Award within the first year after occupancy in 2007.

Renewable

• 1/3 of electricity used goes to powering

artificial lights

• Artificial lights use fluorescent bulbs that

minimize energy consumption

Look at the picture below. Can you guess how the electrical energy at Kinard is generated? If you guessed WIND, you are correct! • 75% of the total energy consumed at Kinard is

electricity and 100% of this energy is purchased as wind credits by PSD. We invest in renewable energy and a healthier planet.

2 Buildings don’t use energy, PEOPLE DO!

Electricity at Kinard … Artificial Lighting at Kinard

Coal Power Plant

VS.

• Artificial lighting accounts for approximately 1/3 of our total electric bill.

• All of our electric lights use high efficiency bulbs which minimizes the energy we consume.

Non-Renewable

Wind Farm

3 Lessons in the Media Center

Window Walls

Looking out the windows on the east side of the

media center, you will see metal “walls” with Kinard’s

name cut out of them. These structures are known as

window walls and were built to minimize the amount

of direct sunlight that travels through the windows.

This energy saving strategy keeps direct sunlight from

heating up the room, therefore, reducing the energy

demand on Kinard’s cooling system.

Look up! The ceiling in the media center

offers you a “peek behind the scenes” so that

you can see the inner workings of how Kinard

keeps people comfortable and happy. Can you

find the ventilation ducts and water drains

above the ceiling?

You may also see the inner workings of an exposed solar tube extending down into the ceiling from the roof. These tubes bring sunlight in from the roof and distribute it evenly across the room.

Let the Sun Shine In

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Window Walls Solar tubes look like electric

lights but actually collect

sunlight from a dome-like

window on the roof. The light

travels down through the ceiling

in a long reflective tube and is

dispersed into classrooms and

hallways.

Maximizing the

Amount of

Natural Daylight

in Our School

Kinard’s Rooftop

Now that’s a bright idea!

5 Maximizing the Natural Light

LOOK!!

The windows and solar tubes in Kinard bring in a large amount of natural light. The building is designed to efficiently distribute this light into all areas of the building. This reduces the amount of energy needed to power artificial electric lights and creates a healthier learning environment.

Design Features In order to maximize the natural light, our

building was designed to be transparent. • This “see through” design allows

natural light to illuminate as much of the building as possible.

• Take a look down this hallway… Can you see the beautiful Colorado foothills? That’s about as transparent as a school gets!

Our building is designed and oriented to include exterior windows in every classroom and maximize natural light from sunrise to sunset.

E W

Did You Know? Colorado has over 300 blue sky days every year.

You may find yourself wondering why our stairs are full of tiny holes that resemble swiss cheese. These tiny perforations allow the light to filter down and break up the gloomy, dark shadows in the spaces below. The windows overlooking the balcony are designed to maximize natural light. They also have a special glazing on the bottom rows to avoid glare, but the top row is not tinted. This allows more light to flood the ceiling and reflect down evenly below. The colored windows break up the intensity of the light and add “sparkle” and character to the school.

6 Bright Ideas…

Compare the number of solar tubes vs. artificial lights used to brighten the commons.

Transparent Stairs & Balcony Railing

Maximizing Light – Minimizing Electricity

Notice the large windows that allow daylight into the classroom even when there is never direct sunlight coming from the north. Glazing on the lower viewing windows minimizes glare coming into the classroom while the upper windows are glaze-free to allow all light to enter the building.

Argon gas fills the layer between the double-paned,

low-E glass windows to create an insulated building seal which reduces the amount of energy that leaks out of the building.

7 Take a look inside this classroom!

Another COOL feature . . .

Rooftop sensors monitor the amount of daylight. Classroom lights are automatically turned off if there is enough natural light available.

Did you notice . . .

• Reflective light louvers on the top windows redirect sunlight up towards the angled ceiling.

• The angled ceiling then distributes the light back down evenly into the classroom below. This is called the cloud effect!

• Solar tubes provide even more natural light to the classroom areas furthest from the windows.

• The color break on the walls is designed to help teachers leave the white wall space free and clear in an effort to maximize the performance of the lighting.

8 Take a look inside this classroom!

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Polyurethane Foam Insulation Underneath the exterior bricks of Kinard is a 3 in. layer of thick, spray-on foam. This helps create an extra layer of protection from the elements. The picture below is what Kinard looked like before the exterior bricks were in place.

What is a Building Envelope? Just like you seal something inside an envelope, a building envelope seals in the air we pump into the building. Part of how we score so high on the Energy Star rating scale is by not letting our valuable hot and cool air leak out of the windows and walls. Kinard is the most energy efficient school in the State of Colorado in large part due to our extremely good insulation.

Windows are the greatest source of leaking energy, so they require a strong barrier between the inside and outside. Kinard’s windows are double paned, low-e glass that contains a thin layer of Argon gas in the middle. Below we can see the building envelope being analyzed by an infrared heat-sensing camera. The blue areas show where the building needs a better seal.

Argon Gas Filled Windows

Above the banners in the gym, there are windows

made of Kalwall. This is a unique way to spread the

daylight evenly throughout the space through a

translucent canvas like material. Kalwall uses

prismatic glass fibers to distribute a balanced,

natural, and glare free light throughout the gym. It

also has excellent insulation properties to retain our

heat energy.

10 Kalwall Windows

Our gym has sensors located in rafters. These sensors detect the quantity of CO2 being emitted by people breathing and determines if the room is occupied by a large volume of students. Once the sensors are triggered, they communicate with the ventilation system, allowing more air to flow into the gym. This cool trick allows us to conserve energy when the gym is vacant and not being used.

CO2 Occupancy Sensors

Buried 300 feet underground, there are 100 vertical pipes that enter what we refer to as the “Goldilocks Zone” – It’s not too hot and not too cold, but just right! Our goal is to capture the temperature in this zone using a closed loop water circulation system. The water is then pumped back into our school and converted to heat or air conditioning depending on the season.

11 Goldilocks Zone! Look at the Recreation Field…

Can you Guess what's underneath the grass field? Hidden below is another unique energy feature, geothermal wells. These wells are the beginning of our geothermal heating and cooling journey.

Our goal is to create an outdoor learning center and

garden just outside this door. It’s purpose would be

to allow students to learn in a new environment that

provides real world experiences and project-based

learning opportunities. Students would be able to

break free from traditional classrooms and integrate

class content across curriculums. This idea was

inspired by the Catalina Environmental Leadership

Program which gives us evidence that this new way of

learning has a positive effect on student outcomes.

12 A Glimpse into our Future Vision…

Feeding the Worms! One of our ongoing projects, composting, is well known. We hope to incorporate this student-led project, as well as many others, into our new outdoor learning center.

ZERO! Here at Kinard we are very conscious about our

trash and use of resources. How much of our trash is actually trash? As it turns out, not much at all. We have a Resource Management Center that is just around the corner to encourage all of our students to make positive choices when disposing of their lunch waste. This is one of many reasons that Kinard students have earned an Environmental Leadership Award and the USDE Green Ribbon Schools Award.

13 How many trash cans do you see?

Do you see those big concrete pillars just outside the cafeteria windows? These serve a very important purpose. They are used as a strategy to block and minimize the amount of direct sunlight that hits glass. When sunlight hits glass, it not only creates an annoying glare, but it also raises the temperature in the room and makes our air conditioner work overtime to maintain a comfortable learning environment.

Window Wall Pillars

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We Add Up No one can do everything, but everyone can do something!

Our students built this giant plastic water bottle with over 400 plastic water bottles collected from our cafeteria. The bottle is the height if an average 8th grade student and represents the number of plastic bottles we consume every week at Kinard!

When we originally took all of our trash cans out of the cafeteria, our goal was to replace them with this resource management center. Here, students are faced with choices and a chance to be responsible for their waste. This entire area was created by students for students. All signs and structures were projects to make a real-world impact on our community. Because of this student project, Kinard diverts over 20,000 lbs of food waste every year. All of these valuable resources would have otherwise filled our landfills. Kinard’s total landfill diversion rate is around 70% each year. This means that most of our trash is not actually trash and we have re-routed it to composting and recycling facilities.

Recycling & Composting Center

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Most of our homes use natural gas for heating and cooling. This involves burning non-renewable fossil fuels that pollute our planet. Geothermal energy is renewable and doesn't rely on burning fuel. So it is better for our environment! While it is costly to install a GeoExchange system, it is a worthwhile investment. It vastly cuts down on utility costs every year, eventually paying itself off!

Geothermal Pump Room Geothermal heating & cooling is used for our school’s ventilation system. Located 300 feet below our school are 100 wells that circulate water in a closed loop to capture thermal energy at a temperature of 60-70 ⁰F. The heat collected inside the water wells is then pumped back up into our school to this room, and is then transferred into our ventilation ducts as warm or cool air.

Kinard’s Circulatory System Heart= The pump room Arteries= Heat pump supply Veins= Heat pump return

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Inside this door you will find the water furnaces that complete our geothermal journey. The water that circulates inside the wells below the school grounds is eventually pumped into this hidden room behind the lockers. Here, the temperature that is being stored in the water is removed by the water furnaces and injected into our air ducts that feed into our classrooms.

Heating At Home Most likely your home uses a natural gas furnace. Using natural gas is a cheap and abundant way to heat your home. However, when burned it creates pollution and releases greenhouse gases into the air. It is also a non-renewable resource, which means it will eventually run out.

Heating At Kinard Geothermal heating & cooling is used for our school ventilation system. This means that we have 100 underground pipes that circulate water 300 ft. below our campus to capture a consistent temp between 60-70°F. The heat collected inside the wells is then pumped back up into our school. The temperature in the water is released into our air ducts as heat in the winter and AC in the summer.

Geoexhange System

• 100 Wells (300’ deep)

• 72 Heat Pumps

Look inside this closet door…

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