Building for Tomorrow: Telluride School District's Sustainable Transformation
Telluride, Colorado, is a famous destination nestled in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Originally a mining town, the town was founded by 18th-century explorers searching for silver and gold. Today, visitors flock to the town to enjoy the beautiful scenery, great skiing, and other tourist attractions.
Telluride’s unique charm lies in its blend of visitors and locals who sustain its vibrant character. As a popular resort destination, it attracts affluent second homeowners and a steady stream of tourists eager to experience its world-class skiing and breathtaking scenery.
Amid this backdrop, the 2,600 year-round residents—many of whom work in the hospitality and tourism industries—form the backbone of the community. Their children attend Telluride School District (TSD), a top-rated district that serves the area.
Telluride School District recently celebrated the successful completion of a transformative project that modernized the school’s facilities, preserved the historic exteriors against years of exposure, and advanced resiliency goals across the district’s two campus buildings: Telluride Elementary School (TES), and Telluride Intermediate/Middle/High School (TIS/TMHS).
Connecting the Entire Community
Beyond mountain skiing, Telluride has another claim to fame; it’s also home to the Telluride Film Festival, which takes place over Labor Day Weekend. The iconic film festival has been an annual event for over 50 years, drawing in thousands of attendees, and regularly sells out. This much-anticipated event is hosted in Telluride’s Middle/High School Performing Arts Center.
Like many small towns, Telluride’s school buildings also serve as additional meeting places for many civic and community groups. The Middle and High Schools also serve as the community's emergency centers. This means keeping the power on at this facility is critical, even when the grid goes down during heavy winter storms.
District leaders took action to keep TMHS operational year-round, ensuring the community and its visitors always have access to essential facilities:
- Added renewable energy and battery backup systems to the building
- Modernized and integrated the outdated, existing building power supply
- Created an independent and uninterruptable on-site power supply in emergencies
- Reduced energy costs by relying less on utilities during peak demand and using their own power supply.
- Added new EV Charging onsite to serve visitors and staff
- Upgraded 24/7 low-voltage transformers to high-efficiency transformers to lower energy usage and costs
- Installed LED lighting throughout the building for improved energy efficiency
- Reworked building envelope to enhance energy efficiency, including sealing gaps, door seals, and weatherstripping
Now, the District can keep this vital building operational, no matter the weather.
Preserving the Historic Character of the Community
Constructed in 1870, Telluride's Elementary School has been there from the beginning, built before the town was officially established in 1878.
Today, one of Telluride’s memorable vistas includes the school’s historic bell tower and cupola perched atop its 150-year-old structure. Many visitors might not realize this beautiful building is still a fully operational school.
Over time, the building has gone through multiple iterations. At one point, TDS sold the building, and it served as the town hall and county seat. In the 1980s, TDS reacquired the building, renovated it, and converted it into the town’s elementary school.
The building’s long history made preserving its authentic charm a critical part of the district’s modernization project. The district selected Energy Systems Group (formerly known as Yearout Energy) to tackle the challenges of working on updating and protecting this historic building. In just one example of the team’s commitment to history, the over 100-year-old cupola was carefully removed, reinforced, re-engineered, and returned atop the school building.
The renovation project also included:Â
- Collaborating with local historical societies to preserve the exterior character
- Reworking the building envelop to eliminate drafty conditions
- Repairing roof leaks to improve building integrity
Energy-efficient upgrades:
- Installing LED lighting to improve safety with bright, clear lighting inside and out
- Upgrading snow melt controls to provide energy efficiency
Now restored to its former glory, the historic elementary school will continue to serve Telluride's students and community.
Creating Affordable and Attractive Renovation Options for Telluride
In a tourist town like Telluride, protecting the town’s picturesque quality is crucial. Much of the community’s economy is built on tourists enjoying the breathtaking views and welcoming thoroughfares.
The school buildings are part of the town’s character and are highly visible. So, in addition to the importance of educating the young people of the town, it’s equally important they match the town’s historic and picturesque surroundings.
When District leaders decided to modernize the infrastructure of their school buildings, they selected a programmatic approach that helped the district cut utility costs and energy consumption in order to reinvest in beautiful exteriors.
Funding this major construction project was supported by:
- Reengineering facilities to cut utility costs by 33%
- Securing a DOLA (Department of Local Affairs) grant from the state worth $750,000
- Utilizing an Energy Savings Performance Contract, to provide accurate reporting to the community on past versus new energy usage
- Resulting in $4.3 million in expected lifetime utility savings.
With the help of Energy Systems Group, Telluride is now ready to serve the town, the tourists, and students for generations to come.
To learn more about infrastructure improvement projects for K12 schools, download the Superintendent’s Guide to School Revitalization.
