Considered the nation”™s first green construction laboratories for high schools, Connecticut”™s E-Houses are gaining momentum ”” seven built, 11 to go ”” while preparing students for jobs with hard-won experience.
Students at Henry Abbott Technical High School in Danbury have built out a functional, energy-efficient E-House using green technology. At a recent open house, the school debuted the students”™ work, marking the opening of the state”™s seventh E-House.
While such work ”” pumps and pipes ”” is often hidden, the E-House keeps it visible to showcase the students”™ work.
- Student-installed systems in the new E-House.
“The fields of energy efficiency and renewable energy are more valuable than ever, as we are witnessing a clean energy boom on the local, state and national level,” said Nivea Torres, superintendent of the Connecticut Technical High School System, in a statement. “The E-House educational initiative ensures that Connecticut remains a national leader in green jobs creation, and that our students are equipped to fill these jobs.”
In the program, students study the architecture and design of the E-House they”™re building and learn about home construction.
Under the instruction of full-time teachers trained and certified by the state”™s technical high school system, the students then install from scratch Wi-Fi smart thermostats, cooling and heating pumps, boiler systems, lighting and insulation, HVAC units, thin-film solar photovoltaic panels and weatherization materials. Unique to the Abbott Tech E-House is the solar-powered “evacuated tube drain-back thermal system.”
“All the teachers do is demonstrate the skill they have to use, and the students all replicate that skill,” said Raymond Mencio, a Connecticut Technical High School System consultant. “When we”™re done, it”™s an operating structure and inside it looks like a museum.
“For instance, there”™s a section that has Plexiglas, and people can see all the steps needed to build radiant floor heating,” Mencio said. “Students get exposure on different systems and how to create a model that”™s best for the environment and a return on investment.”
No tour guides were needed inside the E-House. Guests were given an opportunity to walk around with an iPad. Using the QR reader, they were able to scan the QR codes next to each display and a video popped up with a student explaining how he or she installed the unit.
The E-House project is supported by Energize Connecticut and jointly administered by Connecticut Light & Power and The United Illuminating Co. Energize Connecticut”™s stated goal is for students to install an E-House at all 18 technical high school in the state. So far, six more are under construction.
The next Fairfield County project will break ground in 2016 at Stamford”™s J.M. Wright Technical High School, which enrolls its second graduating class next fall.
