Berkshire Bulletin Summer/Fall 2013

Giant Strides Toward a Smaller Footprint

By Bill Bullock

In June of 2011, Berkshire School was invited to join the ranks of Middlebury, Harvard, Princeton and other outstanding leaders in higher education, in the Billion Dollar Green Challenge. Berkshire remains the only secondary school among a host of nonprofit institutions invited to invest a combined total of $1 billion in self-managed revolving funds that finance energy efficiency improvements.

The vehicle for our commitment to the Billion Dollar Green Challenge is the W. Baird Duschatko Fund, given to Berkshire by William L. Duschatko ’61 in memory of his son W. Baird Duschatko ’91. This fund has allowed Berkshire to expand the scope of our commitment to sustainability in the form of student-directed energy efficiency projects that substantially reduce the School’s carbon footprint. Berkshire has committed to growing the size of the fund to surpass, within six years, the smaller of 1% of the School’s endowment value or $1 million.

In February 2012, a project proposed by Allie Bliven ’13 was selected from a group of six student proposals. Bliven proposed minimizing external heat loss by wrapping the pipes, the hot water storage and the boiler that provides heat and hot water to both Eipper and Godman dormitories.

The project’s initial investment was $18,425. Incredibly, this insulation installation resulted in a first-year savings of over 5,000 gallons of heating oil, which translated into a cost savings of over $21,000 based on the average cost-per-gallon of heating oil. These savings will be reinvested into the School’s next project, the lighting retrofit in Berkshire’s 1982 gymnasium, and the installation of a variable frequency drive for more efficient air flow and heating delivery in that building.

“I am so very pleased that the project produced these phenomenal results,” said Bill Duschatko of the exciting returns. He continued, “I even questioned the numbers at first, but this proves that conservation of energy provides immediate payback of investment without the necessity for subsidies and that this savings should be repeatable indefinitely. This started with a real world idea from one of our students—no theory, no modeling—pure cause and effect producing real results for Berkshire and ultimately, the planet.”

Bill Bullock is Berkshire’s Director of Development. He lives in Weidinger House with his wife Bebe Clark Bullock ’86, and children Addie ’14, Liam ’17 and Silas.

To help advance Berkshire’s sustainability efforts, you can support the W. Baird Duschatko ’91 Fund for the Study of Sustainable Resources by making a gift online or by contacting Myra Riiska at 413-229-1225. Checks payable to Berkshire School can be mailed to: Development and Alumni Affairs, 245 North Undermountain Road, Sheffield, MA 01257.