Grand Rapids Public Schools nutrition center taps green energy, creates living energy lab

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Using “school cafeteria” and “living laboratory” in the same sentence brings to mind several adolescent gags (pun intended). But Grand Rapids Public Schools has plans for a different kind of laboratory at its Nutrition Center—one where high school students will learn all about green energy usage, green energy systems, and solar power.

The Nutrition Center, 1130 Race St., is the hub for delivery and storage of packaged foods for GRPS student meal programs. Staff there preps food that the school cafeterias assemble, reheat and serve to students.

Last week the Nutrition Center finished installing rooftop solar panels, the last phase of transforming the 30,000-square-foot facility into a more eco-friendly building. In August, crews began the $300,000 energy overhaul:

• Replaced a 40-year-old dishwashing system with one that uses 50 percent less water.
• Installed a refrigeration system that consumes 30 percent less electricity than the old one.
• Upgraded the chilled water cooling system with one that chills cooked food 50 percent faster and reduces water consumption by 50 percent (some 150 gallons per day).
• Added variable speed sensors to the hood ventilator system—they activate automatically when needed, instead of operating eight hours a day.

“Besides the cost savings, students from our Economicology program will have a living lab of 21st Century technology to monitor the energy consumption in a real life situation,” says Paul Baumgartner, director of nutrition services. “They’ll have web access so they can monitor the solar activity and the energy consumption in this building. It’s a wonderful opportunity to take theory and see it in action.”

GRPS estimates the solar array, alone, will reduce the building’s carbon emissions by 11 tons per year.

Source: Paul Baumgartner, Grand Rapids Public Schools

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].