Photo: Shari Smalls/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) —Otis Elementary School is now the first Boston public school to run entirely on clean energy after a recent retrofit and renovation.
Improvements to the building include all-electric cooling, heating, ventilation and filtration systems.
Mayor Michelle Wu said it’s a much-needed update to an over century-old building.
“As you might expect, the oldest public school district in the country has a few historic buildings in it,” Wu said at a press conference on Thursday. “More than half of our schools were built before WW2, this one 121 years ago.”
The new improvements at the school are part of a $5.8 million city investment and a $1.5 million green school works grant.
Wu said this means much more than meeting climate goals.
“The ability to learn, the comfort levels that you have if you’re not having to worry about sweating and being too hot when school starts in the summer or when it gets cold outside,” Wu said.
Governor Maura Healey said the renovations at this school show that widespread change is possible.
“It’s cleaner air for our kids, it’s more comfortable classrooms and a better learning environment,” Healey said at the press conference. “It means zero fossil fuels, less energy usage, and lower bills.”
WBZ NewsRadio's Shari Small (@ShariSmallNews) reports.