Joe Imel/Daily NewsKenny Stanfield, architect with Sherman-Carter-Barnhart Architects that is overseeing the new Richardsville Elementary School holds up a tee shirt for the Net Zero during a press conference Wednesday. Kentucky First Lady Jane Beshear attended a press conference Wednesday at the Warren County Public Schools Board of Education office to announced a $1.37 million grant to help Warren County Public Schools purchase solar panels that will enable the new Richardsville Elementary School to achieve "net zero" energy consumption. The grant is funded by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds from the U.S. Department of Energy and distributed through the Kentucky Department for Energy Development and Independence. The school system will purchase solar panels for what is slated to become the nation's first net-zero energy school. The new Richardsville school, being built to replace the existing school building, will open later this year. With the solar panels, it is expected to produce enough electricity to offset what it uses. The clean energy produced by the solar panels will be sold to the Tennessee Valley Authority at a premium. In order to achieve "net zero" status, the Richardsville building will use geothermal heating and cooling, Insulated Concrete Form construction, daylighting, and other efficiencies to reduce energy consumption.

Kentucky first lady Jane Beshear announced a $1.374 million grant Wednesday to Warren County Public Schools for the purchase of solar panels at the new Richardsville Elementary School, putting the facility one step closer to becoming the nation’s first school that will produce as much energy as it uses.

Beshear and a host of state and local officials were on hand to celebrate the announcement and tour the facility.

“According to our knowledge, this will be the nation’s first net-zero energy school building. What an accomplishment,” Beshear said. “The addition of these solar panels to this school brings us into the national spotlight on energy.”

The Richardsville school is designed to use one-fourth of the energy used in a typical Kentucky school. With the solar panels, it will produce energy that can be fed back to the energy grid.

Some of that clean energy can be sold to the Tennessee Valley Authority, 10-year-old Richardsville Elementary Green Team member Christopher Hayes told Beshear as he greeted her along with fellow team members.

“We are going to take the extra energy that we made and don’t use and sell it to the energy company and get paid for that to help make up for the cost of the school,” Christopher said.

The grant is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act from the U.S. Department of Energy and distributed through the Kentucky Department for Energy Development and Independence. Its purpose is to accelerate energy efficiency and renewable energy projects for Kentucky schools, create energy costs savings and reduce carbon emissions.

Sustainable schools such as Richardsville Elementary not only have a positive green impact by protecting the environment and helping with national energy security, but also teach children how to live their lives as responsible environmental stewards, Beshear said.

“Schools across our state and especially here in Warren County have taken a leadership role in energy efficiency and conservation,” Beshear said. “This is not only important for the cost savings and for a healthy environment, but also because it provides an educational opportunity for our students and everyone who walks through those school doors. High-performing school buildings teach children how they are affected by their surroundings and the importance of being responsible for their environment.”

The Richardsville Green Team agreed as they fielded questions from those present about their new school. “We like science,” said 9-year-old Carter Ford, “and it’s cool to get to tell people about it.”

“I will remember meeting the first lady today and telling her about our net-zero school,” said Mike Kieffer, 10.

“When you used to talk about green, people thought it was about money. It still is,” Beshear said. “Everything that we do that protects our environment and preserves and conserves our energy use converts to dollars, and the exciting part about that is within our schools. It returns to the students.”

Warren County schools in the last 10 years have offset about $5.1 million in energy costs, said Superintendent Tim Murley. “We have a lot of building going on right now and we are trying to do this in a way that will protect the environment,” he said.

The district plans to open Richardsville Elementary in August, following years of revising building designs. Without the grant funding, there would have been a delay in the district’s ability to purchase the solar panels and complete the project, according to Murley.

“Despite recent budget cuts and the ever-growing pressures on educators to do more with less, today we get to look forward to an even brighter future,” he said.