Camas High School

Camas High School

Since opening in 2003, Camas High School has served as a model of environmental stewardship. By implementing various energy efficiency measures and green design techniques into the building's initial construction, the school has ensured that its lighting, heating and cooling loads require less energy. As a Renewable School, Camas High School is building a community of renewable energy educators in its school and surrounding district while generating clean energy through their on-site photovoltaic (PV) system and leveraging the system's performance data as an educational tool to bring energy topics to life in their classrooms. The 1.02-kilowatt PV system installed onto the school produces approximately 1,000-kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and is designed to demonstrate the benefits and opportunities created by renewable energy technology. Energy monitoring services provided to the school has added their system's live performance data to the Energy Exploration Center Solar4RSchools.org—making it accessible for classroom analysis nationwide. In 2006, educators within the school received a customized renewable energy teacher training, hands-on science kit materials to augment the school's existing curricula, and complete access to the resources available on the Solar4RSchools.org website. A touchscreen kiosk placed inside the building serves as an exceptional engagement tool. The kiosk allows school visitors, parents, teachers and students to interact with live system performance data and key facts about how solar energy works. This project continues to serve as a powerful learning tool for both the students and the community.