TVA's School Uplift Awards Over $3M to Schools for Energy Efficiency

Bubble Wrap and aluminum foil aren’t typically at the top of the list for housing insulation materials.

But for students at Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, these materials were exactly what they used to build houses – mini, energy-efficient houses insulated against the elements.

The hands-on learning experience was one of eight activities at the school's Energy Day, a K-12 program that teaches students about energy efficiency.

The Energy Day event encouraged students in all grades to engage in activities such as art, board games, the creation of climate change graphs and more. The work touched on every core subject, allowing the students to draw on a wellspring of technical and creative skills.

Among the challenges, for example, they had to keep ice cubes cool inside an insulated house. That’s where Bubble Wrap and foil proved to be effective insulators.

The activities were difficult, but the students were inventive and wildly successful in their creativity.

“I’ve seen all of the effort and work that we’ve put in. It was pretty cool to see all of it work out on Energy Day,” Hetvi Patel, a Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences student, said.

That hard work helped lead the school to receive $410,000 in grant funding from TVA EnergyRight’s School Uplift program and the state of Tennessee Energy Efficient Schools Initiative. The funds will be used to make energy-efficient building upgrades that will provide even more energy and money savings for the school in future years.

Students at Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences used Bubble Wrap and foil as insulators to keep ice cubes cool inside a miniature house during the school's Energy Day activities.

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School Uplift is designed to help schools identify ways to save energy through behavioral changes, with no capital investment. Engineers visit the schools during the summer for a high-level energy audit in which they compile a list of low- to no-cost opportunities to improve energy efficiency.

Once the list is completed, the schools build an energy team led by a champion faculty member. From there, the team works to transform into a more energy-efficient school and increase awareness of efficient energy practices.

The teams put many elements in place, such as educational signage and efficiency checklists.

“School Uplift is all about continuous improvements,” Tom Irwin, TVA School Uplift energy coach, said. “It’s based on engaging the customers – the schools, in this case – and making them aware of ways they’re wasting energy.”

This year, TVA’s School Uplift program was named an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year, the highest level of EPA recognition for partners that excel at energy management and meet various criteria, such as demonstrating best practices and organization-wide energy savings.

“TVA is honored to be named an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for our School Uplift program," Monika Beckner, vice president of TVA Energy Services and Programs, said. “TVA and our 153 local power company partners have worked to make a positive impact on the communities we serve, and we are especially proud of the School Uplift program because children are our most important asset.

“Reducing energy costs and improving the quality of the learning environment for both students and teachers helps give every child the opportunity to succeed.”

TVA and the local power company partners work closely with the school energy teams to provide support and teach them about energy efficiency.

At Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, TVA and local power company partner EPB collaborated with the school’s energy team.

"The School Uplift program is such an important initiative to continue supporting because, as adults, the framework and habits that guide us through our decision-making processes were established as children, and in large part in school,” David Vanzant, EPB key customer engineer in energy services, said. “Being able to teach, reinforce and support students in building energy-efficient habits now will pay dividends later."

Along with reaping the benefits of energy efficiency – and imparting valuable energy conservation knowledge to students – schools that complete the program are guaranteed a $10,000 learning environment grant. Based on their performance, 10 schools are awarded $25,000 learning environment grants.

There’s also an opportunity to earn a possible $200,000 – and up to $400,000 – for building energy upgrades, based on engagement and need.

Winning schools can use the grant money to further enhance their energy efficiency. Every dollar saved on energy reduction can be redirected to what matters most for schools – educating children.

An Energy Day event at Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences encouraged students to engage in activities that explore energy efficiency.

Sweet Success

As buildings go, the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences building is quite old.

Constructed in 1920, it has many outdated features that reduce its energy efficiency. That’s part of why the school was awarded one of three $400,000 building energy upgrade grants for Tennessee schools at the conclusion of the 2023-24 School Uplift program. The grants were co-funded by Tennessee’s Energy Efficient Schools Initiative.

Three schools in other states received $200,000 building energy upgrade grants from TVA. All six schools also received the $10,000 learning environment grant.

“We have an extremely old and inefficient building,” Kelly Davis, energy co-champion at Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, said. “I think this will make a world of difference.”

As the school staff begins to improve the building to boost energy efficiency – tinting the windows, for example, and improving the air conditioning system – students, staff and community members will begin to notice the benefits.

“This area is really historic,” Rithvik Siddenki, a student on the school’s energy team, said. “By getting this building to start off with becoming energy efficient, we could make an impact on the rest of the buildings in the area.”

The Chattanooga school’s energy team was among the few teams in the School Uplift program that were largely student driven.

And their teamwork paid off.

“We were genuinely collaborating,” Davis said. “Instead of it just being me giving them an assignment and them doing it, we were all partners in the activities.”

Students weren’t always entirely sure about what they were signing up for, but they were pleasantly surprised by the time they completed the program.

“We thought this would be a good opportunity to apply what we learned in the classroom to something that actually has an impact on our community,” Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences energy team member Aarav Patel said.

Learning opportunities went well beyond energy tips. The students grew their interpersonal skills and, perhaps most importantly, came to understand that they can make a difference.

“It gives the students ownership," Jennifer Mitchell, Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences energy co-champion, said. “This is something that they dove into headfirst, and they’ve done a fantastic job.

“Their voice is being heard. Here is a prime example that something can be done and they’re doing it.”

Photo Gallery

Board games and other activities helped students in all grades learn about energy efficiency through behavioral changes.

Built in 1920, Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences has outdated features that reduce its energy efficiency. The school has received a $410,000 building energy upgrade grant to fund improvements.

TVA EnergyRight team members were recognized recently at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., where the U.S. EPA named TVA’s School Uplift program an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year. Pictured, left to right: AJ Myszka, TRC Companies engineer; Steve Bell, TRC Companies director; Carrie Fogleman, director of TVA Energy Services and Programs; Jason Snyder, manager of TVA Energy Services and Programs; Clay Hoover, senior program manager of TVA Energy Services and Programs; Ruby Mathai, senior manager of TVA Energy Services and Programs; Tracy Narel, national manager of C&I Solution Provider Partnerships, EPA ENERGY STAR; Cindy Jacobs, EPA chief of ENERGY STAR C&I.