Case Study: Renew America's Schools Grantee

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William Penn School District, Yeadon PA

On behalf of the William Penn School District, Practical Energy Solutions, SSM's Energy & Sustainability Group, took the lead role in preparing a successful application to DOE during the first phase of this grant program. Just 2% of eligible applications from 44 states were selected, and this was the only winning application in Pennsylvania. Our team provided modeling of deep energy upgrades for the Penn Wood High School Cypress Street campus, prepared the application and all supporting documents, and managed the post-award grant negotiations to secure more than $7.2 million for the District. 

This funding will accelerate William Penn School District’s progress toward advancing academic success, creating safe, health learning environments, running effective and efficient operations, and improving quality of life by enabling a high-efficiency upgrade of the Penn Wood HS Cypress Street Campus, a 74,000 sf 1947 building that suffers from deferred maintenance. 

The District will be able to construct a high-efficiency ambient heat pump heating/cooling system, high-efficiency LED lighting, a Building Automation System (BAS), and solar PV-roofing that will move the school toward 100% electrification, cutting gas consumption by 97%, and prepare this school for complete “net-zero” energy generation. The project will incorporate state-of-the-art equipment to allow for hands-on, STEM-based student education about energy generation and jobs in the mechanical engineering field, and new technologies that benefit the environment. 

Community Benefits

  • Building upgrades will improve the energy resiliency of the community by creating a low-energy-consuming building, nearly free of fossil fuel dependence.

  • As an educational institution, William Penn is developing a diverse, skilled labor workforce by educating and training their own students in STEM programs They have partnered with Project Lead The Way Gateway, RAMP to STEAM, Young Men and Women in Charge (YMWIC), and Delaware County Chamber of Commerce.

  • William Penn will enter into project labor agreements for all mechanical, electrical, and plumbing work in order to involve the local labor force and provide apprenticeship opportunities.