Whitman-Hanson Regional High School

Whitman, Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Green School Initiative works with regions throughout 

Massachusetts to design and build schools that use less energy, cost less to 

operate, and provide healthier learning environments for students. Like the U.S. 

Department of Energy’s EnergySmart Schools program, the Massachusetts Green 

School Initiative encourages a team approach to high-performance building projects, with active stakeholder involvement from the start of the design process. 

This team approach is key to ensuring the next generation of schools consumes less 

energy and reserves financial resources for educational tools and programming.

A Green School—Practical and Beneficial

In 2005, the Massachusetts Green School Initiative helped the Whitman-Hanson Regional 

School District build a new high school. The project started by engaging town citizens, 

school staff and faculty, local utilities, and many others in the community to gain their 

support. Stakeholder involvement reduced the amount of changes needed during construction and enabled the project to be completed on time and under budget. The project used 

an integrated design approach, which enabled the team to determine how daylighting, solar 

power, site orientation, and high-performance building envelope components would affect 

the energy requirements of the HVAC and lighting systems. As a result, the team correctly 

sized the HVAC and lighting systems, saving the district $100,000 every year. The team also 

Photo: Architecture Involution 3 LLC; © www.brucetmartin.com

ENERGYSMART SCHOOLS CASE STUDY

“The Whitman-Hanson Regional 

High School saves on energy 

costs, and the building is a 

learning tool for students, 

teachers, and the community. 

The Massachusetts Green 

Schools Initiative made it 

possible for us to make this 

a high-performance school. 

And the money the school saves 

on energy goes to purchase 

state-of-the-art educational 

aids, such as built-in facilitator 

stations, interactive white 

boards, and LCD projectors. 

It’s a win for everybody.”

 —John McEwan, Former Superintendent, 

Whitman-Hanson Regional School District 
This photovoltaic array provides 150,000 kWh of electricity annually. Natural lighting in the library reduces energy use.

Photos: Massachusetts Technology Collaborative; © www.brucetmartin.com

ENERGYSMART SCHOOLS CASE STUDY

Whitman-Hanson Regional High School—EnergySmart Choices

Feature Benefit

Solar power A 51 kW solar electric array mounted on the gymnasium roof provides supplemental electricity during peak demand hours. It has also been 

incorporated into the cross-disciplinary curriculum. The solar panels were manufactured in Marlborough, Mass.

Building envelope In addition to wall cavity insulation, TR-10 continuous insulation is on the outside face of the exterior wall. The roof has R-20 continuous 

insulation. The floors have under-slab insulation.

Daylighting Four large skylights (U-value 0.29) and daylight-harvesting controls are used in the cafeteria. Natural light is used in the classrooms, library, lecture hall, performing arts center, and double gymnasium, which reduces the need for artificial light. A courtyard allows daylight into core spaces.

Windows The windows are solar screen low-emissivity (low-e), blue green with a U-value of 0.31 and a shading coefficient of 0.46. These reduce the 

cooling and heating loads to save electricity and natural gas.

Heating, ventilating, 

and air conditioning

The HVAC system senses the level of occupancy activity and responds accordingly. A high-efficiency hybrid air-cooled and evaporativecooled chiller system significantly reduces energy consumption.

Water A 20,000 gallon underground gray water storage tank collects rainwater runoff from the roof and uses it to flush toilets and urinals. The 

sinks and toilets are low-flow. Native plants reduce landscape irrigation.

Site orientation The building is oriented on an elongated east-west axis to maximize classroom daylight, save energy, control erosion, and minimize light 

pollution. Much of the building is three stories to reduce its footprint. Trees, wetlands, and wind patterns were preserved as much as practical.

Lighting The pendant-mounted direct-indirect lighting fixtures are high-efficiency fluorescent lamps. All lighting fixtures were manufactured in 

Massachusetts or Rhode Island. The average lighting power density is 1.15 W/ft2.

System controls Occupancy sensors control ventilation dampers and variable air volume boxes to adjust the heating and air conditioning in each classroom.

Cool roof A white PVC membrane was installed on 95% of the surface to reduce cooling energy. Its initial absorptance is 0.17.

Appliances The school uses ENERGY STAR® for equipment such as computer monitors.

Recycling Materials from the old school were recycled for other uses. 

Boiler plant Six water boilers have a minimum efficiency of 86%; efficiency in condensing mode is as high as 95%.
focused on how the building would be used 

and incorporated features that would enhance the learning experience for students 

and improve teacher and student health.

Specifically, elements of the integrated 

design approach used to build this school 

included:

• Site considerations to protect habitats, 

take advantage of established infrastructure, and orient new buildings to 

maximize daylighting opportunities.

• Water efficiency measures to lower operating costs and benefit the environment.

• Indoor air quality improvements that 

would impact teacher and student health 

and performance.

• HVAC systems that control temperature 

and humidity and enable the school to 

be at least 20 percent more efficient than 

Massachusetts energy code.

• A high-efficiency lighting system that 

improves the visual comfort of teachers, students, and staff and reduces the 

school’s operating budget.

• Daylighting techniques (which include 

proper building orientation, classroom 

location, window placement, clerestories, 

top lighting, light tubes, and roof monitors) to provide a high-quality light source 

and reduce the use of artificial light.

• Sustainable materials, products, and 

equipment, including construction materials that have at least one environmental 

attribute (such as salvaged materials, 

recycled content, bio-based content, or 

sustainable wood certification). The team 

strived to use regionally produced or 

harvested materials and ENERGY STAR®

appliances.

• Renewable energy technologies to reduce 

the environmental impact of burning fossil 

fuels and decrease the school’s dependence 

on nonrenewable energy sources.

Goals

The Massachusetts Green School Initiative

and the assembled team focused on an 

overarching goal as they built the WhitmanHanson Regional High School: construct a 

building that offers more amenities, such as 

air conditioning, but uses less energy than 

a less-efficient, outdated school. While accomplishing this goal, the team aimed to: 

• Create a healthy and comfortable 

environment to encourage learning

• Encourage the community to use the facility as a teaching tool for environmental 

design and stewardship

• Construct a building that costs less to 

operate. 

In a step toward accomplishing the team’s 

overarching goal, Andelman and Lelek 

Engineering Inc. used software to simulate 

the proposed building’s energy consumption and evaluated its performance. The 

company created PowerDOE models of 

the as-designed building and a baseline 

building and quantified the difference in 

annual energy consumption. The base 

case building elements (building envelope 

construction, mechanical systems performance, lighting system performance, etc.) 

meet the requirements of Chapter 13 of the 

Massachusetts State Building Code, Energy 

Conservation.

Striving for these goals resulted in a building saving tens of thousands of dollars per 

year. In addition, because the new facility 

is air conditioned, it can remain open in the 

summer for school and community programs.

Financing

The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative provided $650,000 in design and 

technology grants. Keyspan (now National 

Grid), which supplies gas and electric service to more than seven million customers 

in New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, provided $43,631 

as an energy delivery-technology incentive, 

$19,000 in design assistance, $372,186 in a 

comprehensive design assistance incentive, 

and funded commissioning services.

Whitman-Hanson Regional School District—Energy-Related Outcomes

Energy savings beyond code 39% better than ASHRAE 90.1-1999

Annual gas savings 11,700 therms relative to code

Annual energy cost savings over the old school $100,000

Annual water savings 972,000 gallons relative to code

Annual energy savings from energy efficiency measures 577,000 kWh savings relative to code

Annual energy generated from photovoltaics 150,000 kWh

ENERGYSMART SCHOOLS CASE STUDY

“We have had so much positive 

feedback on this building. The state 

has made it a model school and 

wants other schools to copy the 

design. The students are involved in 

giving tours—the Student Environmental Awareness Club is becoming 

extremely popular. The teachers are 

also learning about using the building automation data as a tool for 

education. This school is truly a tool 

for education, not just a place for 

education.”

—Jim Armstrong, CPE, CEM, LEED AP

Building Committee Chairman

Data from NREL and Whitman-Hanson Regional School District
Project Details

Pilot project for the Massachusetts Green 

Schools Initiative

Building: Two and three stories, 

234,500 square feet

Completed: 2005

Grades served: 9–12

Funding and grants:

• $650,000 Massachusetts Technology 

Collaborative design and technology grants

• $19,000 design assistance from Keyspan/

National Grid

• $43,631 Keyspan energy delivery-technology 

incentive

• $372,186 National Grid comprehensive design 

assistance incentive

• Commissioning services funded by National Grid

• $30 million, or 74%, of construction costs 

paid by the Massachusetts School Building 

Authority (2% awarded through a state highperformance building incentive)

• Remainder funded through a bond passed by 

the citizens of Whitman and Hanson 

Cost: $41 million; $175 per square foot

Capacity: 1,350 students 

(current enrollment of 1,250)

Energy performance and savings:

• 39% energy savings better than ASHRAE 

90.1-1999

• 577,000 kWh energy savings from energy 

efficiency measures per year

• 11,700 therms gas savings per year

• 972,000 gallons water savings per year

• 150,000 kilowatt-hours generated from 

photovoltaics

• Energy cost savings of $100,000 per year

Rating: Collaboration for High Performance 

Schools (CHPS) 

Level—35 points

Whitman-Hanson Regional School District:

• 9 schools; 4,500 students

A Strong Energy Portfolio 

for a Strong America

Energy efficiency and clean, renewable 

energy will mean a stronger economy, a 

cleaner environment, and greater energy 

independence for America. Working with 

a wide array of state, community, industry, 

and university partners, the U.S. Department 

of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency 

and Renewable Energy invests in a diverse 

portfolio of energy technologies.

A Successful Model

The district successfully built a high-performance school because the district committed 

to the goal and secured support from the Massachusetts Green School Initiative, utility 

companies, the Massachusetts School Building Authority, the project team, and the citizens 

of the towns of Whitman and Hanson. The entire team worked together to determine the 

functional needs and realities of the stakeholders and to achieve environmental sustainability 

and optimal energy performance. The team approach resulted in a reduction of the number of 

change orders required throughout the design and construction process. Moreover, although 

the Massachusetts legislature placed a temporary hold on all school construction, WhitmanHanson was one of the few exceptions. The team approach included well-thought-out plans 

and specifications that enabled the project to be completed on time and under budget.

Participants learned many lessons along the way to success. For one, energy-efficient design 

requires a substantial amount of time and cooperation; it’s helpful to establish and engage a 

design team early on. Also, life-cycle cost analysis is essential, but the process illustrates 

that the benefits are much greater than the costs.

ENERGYSMART SCHOOLS CASE STUDY

Whitman-Hanson Regional High School Total Energy End-Use Comparison

12,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

Light Plug Loads Heating Cooling DHW Pumps Fans

End Use

 MMBtu

BASE DESIGN

For more information, 

contact:

Ernest Sandland

Facility Manager

Whitman-Hanson Regional 

 School District

781-618-7435

Sandland.Ernest@whrsd.org

Margo Appel

Program Manager

EnergySmart Schools

202-586-9495

www.energysmartschools.gov

September 2009

Printed with a renewable-source ink on paper containing at least 

50% wastepaper, including 10% post-consumer waste.

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