Sustainable Agriculture

Oakwood Friends School’s four-season greenhouse serves more than just as a place to pick fresh carrots during the February freeze. Located steps from the middle school and upper school science buildings, this space serves as an outdoor living classroom multiple times a week. A focal point of Oakwood’s sustainable agriculture program, students learn about amending soil, composting (over 2000 pounds from their dining hall last year) and sustainable farming practices. Through passive solar heat, the 1200 square-foot greenhouse never drops below 55 degrees allowing the students to grow, learn and eat during the entirety of the academic year.

Solar Array 

As part of a multi-year focus on sustainability and stewardship in action, this project does more than provide clean, renewable energy.

The Oakwood array provides a focal point for countless educational opportunities within our Middle School, Upper School and local community. A secured and gated entrance to the array will serve as a backdrop for outdoor classroom space and neighborhood outreach programs.  Plans are in the works to provide a web-based interface in which the entire community can log in and monitor electrical generation in real-time.

Array Facts and Size:

• Offset 100% of the 55 acre, 22 building Oakwood Friends School campus
• 2,275 panels
• 2 acre array
• 720,000 kWhrs Annual Production
• Over 1.1 gWhrs produced to date

Estimated Offsets

• 60 cars taken off the road
• 80 homes powered for a year
• 50,000 gallons of gas burned
• 475 tons of Carbon Annually

WHY OAKWOOD
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