Electrifying Kansas Schools
And protecting against efforts to short circuit the process
The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and UndauntedK12 recently released a report, HVAC Choices for Student Health and Learning, written to help policymakers, school leaders, and advocates understand the benefits of transitioning school facilities to high performance, all-electric HVAC systems. A 2020 report by the U.S. Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) estimated that at least 41 percent of school districts nationally need to update their HVAC systems to improve system operations, energy performance, air quality, health, and comfort. Though based on my own experiences, I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the percentage is higher than this, both nationally and for Kansas.
Depending on a school HVAC system’s existing conditions, per the RMI and UndauntedK12 report (and multiple other sources), some of the resulting benefits from upgrading to a high performance, all-electric system include:
Increased thermal comfort
Increased indoor air quality
Reduction in classroom background sound levels
Reduction in the transmission of respiratory viruses
Reduction in absences
Reduction in school closures/early dismissals resulting from exterior temperature extremes
Health improvements
Improvements in teaching effectiveness and student learning/success
Reduction in building energy consumption (potentially a reduction in utility costs, see below)
Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and associated air pollution produced by building operations, depending on the mix of energy sources used by the district’s utility (see below)
When we talk about electrifying a school’s HVAC system, we’re really talking about electrifying the school facility overall. That’s partly because building HVAC systems typically account for over 50 percent of a facility’s energy consumption to begin with. But also if we want to limit the global average temperature increase to between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius, we have no choice but to transition away from fossil fuels rapidly. Most experts are pretty clear on that, and Kansas, along with the rest of the world, is already experiencing the negative impacts of climate change. With the built environment generating about 40 percent of the annual global CO2 emissions, it’s critical that we transition away from the use of fossil fuels to operate and construct our facilities, as well as manufacture building components and materials.
But achieving and maximizing the above listed HVAC electrification benefits for schools depends on multiple contextual factors, such as incorporating rating system certifications, commissioning, some form of continuous monitoring, and post occupancy evaluations into the upgrade process. These significantly increase the likelihood of success, but they also add to the first cost of such endeavors. The building’s electrical service may also need to be upsized, further adding to the cost.
If the previous HVAC system was undersized, utility cost savings may be minimal (or non-existent) transitioning to an appropriately sized high performance HVAC system capable of adequately heating and cooling the building. And the building’s utility cost changes associated with a transition from gas to electric will be highly influenced by the utility rates for electric versus gas services that vary by utility / location. When electric rates are higher than gas rates (per equivalent unit of energy provided), a building’s utility costs can actually increase even if its energy consumption has decreased.
The determination of utility rate structures is complex and beyond the scope of this post, but one influencing factor is the very limited reflection within utility rates of the environmental/climate and health damages that result from burning fossil fuels. If those damages, potentially quantified via the social cost of carbon (SCC), were actually incorporated into the cost of gas or electricity derived from the burning of fossil fuels, our utility costs would look significantly different, with a great deal more incentive for transitioning to renewables (and reducing consumption) as quickly as possible. It’s important to recognize that as a society, we have always subsidized the burning of fossil fuels.
And depending on the fuel source mix (coal, gas, nuclear, solar, wind, hydro, etc.) currently used by a district’s utilities, transitioning to electric can potentially increase the amount of GHGs produced by the utility to supply that electricity. You may have decreased your site GHG emissions at the school transitioning from gas to electric while increasing the associated source emissions at the utility.
This means that for electrification to be successful, we must address building/site barriers, utility costs, and the utility transitions to renewable energy sources in parallel. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), albeit inaptly named in my opinion, is a major step in the right direction. For schools, it offers financial support for transitioning HVAC systems to electric (via ground source heat pumps), as well as incorporating other clean/renewable energy technologies. Covid-relief funds applicable to HVAC system upgrades will also help here.
The IRA’s 10-year tax credits for developers of new solar/wind/hydro generation, nuclear reactors, and energy efficiency/storage facilities (batteries, hydrogen and pumped hydro) should also assist utilities in their transition away from fossil fuels to renewables and further reduce the rates of renewably generated electricity. Additional benefits of the IRA for the transition away from fossil fuels can be found here.
But for this transition to happen, particularly with the speed needed, governments at all levels need to generally be aligned with the desired outcome. That is unfortunately not the case in Kansas (and in many other states). The Republican leadership of our Republican controlled state legislature, influenced by conservative and climate change denying think tanks as well as fossil fuel lobbyists, has a history of standing in the way of transitioning to renewables, and that isn’t likely to change this legislative session.
In 2021, the legislature passed the Kansas Energy Choice Act, which prevents municipalities from banning natural gas as part of their local efforts to transition to renewables. Republican legislative leaders also have a history of pushing anti-wind energy legislation. And all of this is further impacted by the complex interactions of the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) and our state utilities, both operating within the constraints of our free market economy, with it’s narrow definition of value.
For public schools, the barriers don’t end with utility costs and utility transitions to renewables. Across the U.S., public schools continue to inequitably suffer from decades of deferred maintenance and historical underfunding (and undervaluing in general). According to the 2021 State of Our Schools report, the U.S. currently has an ANNUAL underinvestment of in school buildings and grounds of $85 BILLION (inequitably distributed), and that gap continues to grow each year.
For Kansas, the ANNUAL underinvestment is $373 MILLION, or $4.49 per gross square footage (GSF) of building area. So take your Kansas school district’s gross square footage, multiply it by $4.49 and that’s roughly your district’s annual underinvestment of its school buildings and grounds. Depending on the amount of work required to upgrade and transition the HVAC system to electric along with the nature of other facility needs, the one time money available via the IRA and Covid-relief distributions, while helpful, probably won't be enough to do this for many districts.
One of those other facility needs involves addressing the threats of gun violence that schools face. The amount of resources, time, and mental/emotional energy districts must devote to addressing mass shooting threats, when society won't do what's ultimately needed, by itself takes away from a district's ability to address deferred maintenance, add IEQ monitoring, improve HVAC systems, create adequately shaded outdoor learning spaces, etc.
Unfortunately, mass shooting threats aren’t the only inadequately dealt with societal ill that school districts end up dealing with. Public schools on a daily basis must also devote a significant amount of time and resources addressing the poverty and hunger, inadequate healthcare access (physical and mental), institutional racism, and white supremacy within their communities that inadequately impacts their students and teachers/staff.
Public schools are also commonly and deliberately attacked by Republican politicians and conservative, anti-public education activists. Common Kansas examples include efforts to reduce public education funding (including underfunding special education), diverting funds to private and religious schools (e.g., school choice vouchers), attacking trans-kids/students, expanding vaccination exemptions, and the so-called parents’ bill of rights.
On top of all of that are the physical threats sometimes made to school board members, teachers, and administrators. And the pandemic has exacerbated all of these stresses, including adding to teacher, staff, and administrator shortages. After taking all of this into account it should be easy to see how upgrading/electrifying HVAC systems and adding IEQ monitoring, solar panels, school gardens, or outdoor classrooms is simply part of a huge list of concerns and needs, often relegated towards the bottom.
So, as the Kansas legislature session is getting in full swing (along with most other states), if you want to see equitable access to sustainable, regenerative, healthy, electrified schools, then pay attention to the anti-renewable energy, anti-electrification, anti-public school legislation and associated culture-war attacks coming out of the statehouse. Contact your legislators and do a little advocating on behalf of public schools and renewable energy. It’s past time to make the burning of fossil fuels as extinct as many of the prehistoric lifeforms they’re derived from.
A few relevant Kansas organizations to follow for keeping up to date, using as a resource for advocating, and potentially getting involved with include:
In addition, the USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council) has an advocacy group that members can join for keeping informed and learning about opportunities to engage officials at all levels of government. Opportunities that include leveraging LEED and high-performance building strategies to promote or meet policy goals such as climate action, reduction in energy usage, resiliency, electrification, affordable housing solutions, and more.