Sustainability in action

With climate change now an urgent issue that affects us all, Miss Porter’s School distinctly understands the need to operate in harmony with the natural world. But as it is an institution established in 1843, many of its buildings feature construction methods and materials from around that time period, which means making them green is no small thing. Porter’s also cherishes its heritage, and any modifications it makes to its buildings must follow the protocols of the Farmington Historic District Commission. So when it comes to sustainability, operational leaders at Porter’s strive to balance reducing the school’s environmental footprint with maintaining its traditional character.

“We are committed to being an organization where sustainability and environmental stewardship are hallmarks of who we are,” says Michael Bergin P’19, chief financial and operating officer. “The tension really is, how do we balance the importance of the historical nature of our campus while also seeking approaches and products that allow us to be more eco-friendly?”

Bergin and his wife live in a campus residence built in 1740, making it one of the oldest buildings on campus. Many of the other approximately 65 buildings on the 40-acre site, including classrooms, dormitories, administrative offices and faculty residences, also have old bones, so to speak. To make these buildings more sustainable, Bergin says, the school embraces an approach he calls “adaptive reuse” identifying creative ways to optimize energy efficiency and waste reduction while keeping distinctive architectural elements. He says over the past 16 years, the school has invested about $40 million in its campus and only added 8,320 square feet, all without constructing any new buildings.

“We feel like one of our best ways to be stewards of our resources and mindful of the climate is to upgrade, enhance and renovate a space that already exists rather than to build a new space,” Bergin says.

In 2021, the school’s signature building at 60 Main St. required several structural changes to improve its functionality and accessibility, plus an expanded dining hall to accommodate all 300-plus students. The renovation process provided the opportunity to incorporate several sustainability features, including LED lights, water-efficient plumbing fixtures, window glazing to reduce heat loss, new insulation in the walls and roof, and a digitally automated heating, ventilating and air conditioning system. The renovated Main still retains much of its historical charm, including the original red brick facade and the white oak floors in the parlors.

In addition to Main, other buildings on campus have also been upgraded with modern HVAC systems, including multiple dormitories and the M. Burch Tracy Ford Library. This intelligent technology makes it possible to centrally monitor and control temperatures in multiple spaces square feet added to campus over the past 16 years — without constructing any new buildings. according to occupancy and usage patterns and the presence of open windows or doors, which allows for using energy more efficiently.

8,320 gallons of oil used annually in building operations, compared to 210,000 gallons 13 years ago.

“Instead of going around to each thermostat and manually changing temperatures, now it’s all automated, which is really helpful for our ability to conserve energy,” says Rich Higley, director of buildings and grounds.

The school has also pursued cleaner heating methods by replacing some oil-burning furnaces with natural gas ones, which emit fewer environmental pollutants. This change has been made to multiple buildings, including Main, the Hacker Theater, the Mellon Gym, the Crisp Athletic Center, the Ward dorm, the Leila Dilworth Jones ’44 Memorial Building and the Dr. Glenda Newell-Harris ’71 Student Center. As a result, the school has reduced its annual oil usage over the past 13 years from 210,000 gallons to 90,000 gallons. Efforts are underway to further expand natural gas heating systems across campus and reduce the use of diesel generators.

90K

NATIVE PLANTS SUPPORT SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS AND LAND STEWARDSHIP AT PORTER’S.

Recognizing the key role of renewables in sustainable energy, MPS has also been steadily increasing its use of solar power. The school added solar panels to its Pool and Squash Building that generate 115 kilowatt-hours of energy per year equivalent to 18 percent of the energy needed to operate the building. This year, the school is further expanding solar power capacity to include the Admission Office located in the Greene House, and it’s evaluating the Gaines Dance Barn for an additional array.

Porter’s focus on sustainability extends outside the buildings to the surrounding natural environment the lawns, gardens and trees that make up about threequarters of the campus. Groundskeeper Hayden Mixsell is passionate about introducing more native species, which, because they are well adapted to the region’s conditions, can thrive more easily with fewer resources such as water and fertilizer. Consisting of diverse perennial flowers and trees such as tulip poplars and red maples, native species are also important habitats for local wildlife, including pollinators such as butterflies and bees that are vital to maintaining healthy ecosystems.

“Sustainability is really front and center in all of our practices, from tree selection all the way down to the grass we use in the lawns,” Mixsell says. “It’s about following the logic of nature, and having the right plants in the right places.”

Mixsell and his fellow grounds team members engage in eco-friendly horticultural and landscaping practices in several other ways: planting trees in locations that can give buildings shade as a natural way to cool down interiors; turning fallen autumn leaves into compost that they can use to enrich the soil; and choosing plants that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also provide sustenance for humans, such as blueberry bushes, chokeberry shrubs and peach trees. They also created the school’s treasured Swan Pond, a stormwater retention pond planted with water-loving perennials and shrubs that help prevent flooding by absorbing and filtering rainwater.

“Being intentional about sustainability at Miss Porter’s School means [leaving] the place better than we found it,” Higley says. “Making improvements that allow us to be good environmental stewards while keeping the history of our school alive is extremely important to Miss Porter’s.” 18% of the energy needed to operate the Pool and Squash Building is generated by solar panels.

Bergin notes that sustainability is becoming an increasingly important part of Miss Porter’s School’s campus master plan. It’s an approach that encompasses responding to the more eco-friendly lifestyles of its community members; for example, the school has installed two electric car-charging stations on campus, and it pays for half the cost of chargers faculty members want to add to their homes. As the school continues pursuing ways to be greener, these efforts are being documented on a new sustainability page on the school’s website, a project that involves the participation of several students. Porter’s is also keen to collaborate with community partners to advance progressive environmental action. Recently, the school partnered with the nonprofit Farmington River Watershed Association to support fish migration by removing a degraded dam located on a part of the river on campus.