Due to unforeseen issues, the SEED classroom, which was supposed to arrive in Jasper on June 15, will likely not arrive until fall.
The classroom is ready, said sustainability class teacher Adam Robb, but it cannot leave Seattle, where it was designed and built, until "two major hurdles" are addressed
“Like any major project, there are more hurdles than we were able to foresee,” he said.
The first issue is nailing down a definitive location. This is an issue because Robb and his sustainability class recently learned that the classroom needs to be tied into the power system.
The classroom isn’t completely self-sustaining and off-the-grid like originally thought, rather it’s net-zero, “which means that it needs to draw power in the winter months and then feed back power into the system in the summer months.”
There isn’t a power source at the classroom’s current proposed location at the end of the school field along Geikie Street, but installing one at a decreased cost, or even free, may be possible. “We’re working with the school board, ATCO Electric and parent volunteers who know about engineering and electrical work,” said Robb.
Permits for the building also can’t be issued until a permanent location is decided. Due to this, “it looks like the SEED will arrive in early fall to an undetermined location, because the school board would still have to approve a building that draws power and gives back power from its own source,” said Robb.
The building also costs more than Seattle sustainable designer Stacey Smedley anticipated and overall funding for the project has fallen short. “We’re still $40,000-$50,000 short of having paid for the entire classroom.”
The classroom has been built by Method Homes “and they obviously want to be paid before anyone receives the SEED building.”
One solution Smedley offered is for her to sell the SEED classroom prototype to a US school that can afford to pay for it right away, and then use that money to build another SEED classroom for Jasper, which would take only six weeks.
“We wouldn’t get the first [SEED classroom], but we would get the first in Canada,” said Robb. “The rational decision is probably to sell it and not fundraise anymore because people have already been really generous in the community.”
But Robb’s class believes that the best option is to have the first prototype. “It means a lot to them because they were instrumental in the inspiration for this project. It was their baby.”
Robb and his class visited the SEED classroom during last month’s trip to Seattle for the Living Futures unConference. “They’ve hugged it, they’ve used it, and they want it.”
He and the students are still discussing options and hope to make a final decision before the end of the school year.
“The sad part for me is there’s about 12 students in Grade 12 that have worked really hard on this project that won’t be here when [the] SEED arrives. It would have been better if they were here and able to see exactly what they worked hard for.”
In an effort to generate more funds, the Jasper Sustainability Club for Youth is hosting a gala evening on June 28 at the Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre. The students will do a short presentation and John Francis, the “planet walker,” will be a keynote speaker. “He stopped riding in motorized vehicles and took a vow of silence for 17 years after he witnessed an oil spill, and during that time he got his bachelors, masters and PhD degrees and became a university instructor.”
Tickets are $65 and include food, beer, wine and specialty cocktails. Tickets are available from JSCY members, the high school, Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre, or Tekarra Color Lab.
“What we need is support from all angles to help make this happen and what we’re seeing right now is that’s happening,” said Robb.
