Brawley schools are going green

By ROMAN FLORES, Staff Writer
Sunday, March 7, 2010

BRAWLEY — Students in this Northend city will soon be getting on the green bandwagon.

ERIC MILLER PHOTO Randy Smith (right) watches as his students hold up
a sheet of dry wall Friday afternoon during Brawley Union High School’s
Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program construction class.  
  

Brawley Union High School and Barbara Worth Junior High School, in conjunction with the Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program, are educating students on the importance of going green and coaching students on the installation processes of green technology.

“We are trying to be at the forefront (of this budding industry) so as renewable energy takes off our students will have the subset of skills to be able to get into that and succeed in the future,” BUHS Principal Simon Canalez said.

BUHS and Barbara Worth are unified in preparing these young students for the jobs of the future, namely in renewable energy in the Imperial Valley, Barbara Worth Principal Luis Panduro said.

“Our goals are to include Barbara Worth in the learning phase so that the children learn the foundations of this technology early on,” Canalez said.

“Here at the high school we will have a capstone class that will be more advanced so that, by the time they are in their junior and senior years, the students will be able to install this technology themselves; which should translate into careers,” Canalez said.

A pilot class, “Exploring Renewable Energies,” is already being offered to 28 seventh-grade students at Barbara Worth, Panduro said. Brawley High has already installed green technology on its greenhouse and Palmer Performing Arts Center, said Randy Smith, construction teacher for IVROP and BUHS and owner of his own construction company, Arrowhead Construction.

“I don’t mean to brag, but I’m probably the first person in the Valley to do this,” Smith said.

A pioneer in his own right, Smith has supervised and helped install the green technology on the two buildings at Brawley High as well as eight homes in Brawley.

The savings, Smith said, are not to be discarded.

“You’re looking at about $5,000 for the purchase and installation of the water heaters, but in two years the savings from your regular water bill will add up to about the same amount. It pays for itself over two years,” Smith said. “The solar heating and cooling system is more expensive. It’s about $9,000 for a 2-kilowatt system. A 2-kilowatt system will lower your electric bill by 35 percent a year, so it takes about seven to eight years for the system to pay back,” Smith said.

  
ERIC MILLER PHOTO Gus Silva cuts a hole in a wall for a window Friday
for Brawley Union High School’s Imperial Valley Regional Occupational
Program construction class. 

The more people jump on board with green technology the lower prices will drop for the materials needed for solar paneling and green water heaters, Smith said.


Article Reprinted Courtesy of Imperial Valley Press

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