Clarkrange High School will try to save the school system money on utilities, thanks to a TVA grant, the largest awarded in the Upper Cumberland.
The school will receive some $400,000 to improve lighting, heating and cooling controls, and other infrastructure. Clarkrange Teacher Jason Bradley led the work on the grant proposal. He said the goal is to increase energy efficiency.
“Hopefully long term, we’re saving money,” Bradley said. “We’ve been working on this grant this past year, and currently we have saved around $14,000 just by, you know, already we replaced some of the windows and turning off lights and just trying to be a little energy conscious. So we saved around 14, and with those future energy upgrades, we hope to save you even more.”
Bradley said they hope they might be able to upgrade older HVAC units with the money, replace windows, and look for more energy-efficient options in the cafeteria. The school received a second TVA grant of $10,000 to help improve sound in the gym.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Bradley said. “It’s a huge opportunity for the school. It’s going to allow us to do some things that we were hoping to be able to do, but it kind of alleviates the county and kind of going to help the school safe, save some money and kind of look better at the same time.”
Multiple teams inside the school have worked on the grant proposal. One of the most important parts of the grant process, Bradley said, has been getting students involved.
“It kind of involves the students in multiple aspects, not just, you know, the fact that it’s going to save energy, but gives them activities and stuff,” Bradley said. “Allows them to be involved, be part of the committee that makes the decisions and kind of gets their overall feedback on where some of that money is going to be spent.”
Bradley said it would likely take a year to implement all of the energy upgrades. He said the teams inside the school will work with Fentress County School officials to finalize the spending. Bradley said they might be able to get the speaker upgrades completed before graduation.
Volunteer Energy sponsored Clarkrange High School’s grant in the TVA competition. The agency awarded more than $3 million grants, many of which are designed to cut energy consumption. According to TVA, this year’s participants will save an estimated 9 GWh of energy or the amount of electricity used by 1,241 homes in one year.
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