ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – Roanoke City Public Schools is looking to lead the way for school districts to go green. RCPS is one of just 60 school districts from around the country and the only one from Virginia selected to participate in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy CLASS program.

CLASS stands for Champions Leading the Advancement of Sustainable Schools.

“Being one of the districts in the State of Virginia that does these solar energy renewable projects, hopefully we can share some of our past experience and help the other school districts,” said Jeff Shawver, Roanoke City Public Schools senior director of Physical Plants.

Over the next six months RCPS will receive resources, training, and expert advice from the DOE to help it execute energy efficiency and renewable energy projects tailored to its sustainability goals.

“It’s more than just collaborating with other school districts, it’s actually raising funds, how do you apply for grants, and how you work with other districts to leverage grant opportunities to launch these programs? So it just kind of builds on what we’re currently doing,” said Shawver.

Several Roanoke City schools like Fishburn Park Elementary School already have solar panels covering their roofs. The RCPS district office in Downtown Roanoke also has a large solar array on its roof that provides 40% of the building’s power.

“We have this solar array and the solar array is one of the steps that we have pioneered here to launch us into renewable energies and reduce our carbon footprint,” said Shawver.

RCPS has already installed LED lighting fixtures in all of its schools and has some electric school vehicles. Now as part of the CLASS program it has plans to install more solar arrays at schools.

“The next round of photovoltaic systems we’re putting in, basically when you do a photovoltaic system you need a new roof. So the next round is to actually recoat the roofs and put solar and the solar energy will pay for the roof restoration. It’s a great deal because there is no upfront capital cost,” said Shawver.

Shawver said RCPS also has plans to install electric vehicle charging stations at some of its sites. It also wants to expand on the education of solar energy in schools.

“The next round is to definitely talk more with and get middle schoolers and elementary schoolers involved with the education piece of it. That’s the next round of technology for these kids. As they grow up they can be solar engineers and champions of solar energy,” said Shawver.

You can learn more about the CLASS program RCPS was selected for here.

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