Walking along the road between the MDA Library and the FAC, you will find the Energy Center tucked away behind the horse track. While seemingly off-grid, the building holds a long-standing legacy of sustainability and continues to serve as a hub for the Plant Club and several science courses.
“It was built by students,” says Pacho Gutierrez, who witnessed its construction firsthand in the late 1970s. He explains that the Energy Center was originally designed to provide an independent source of energy during the late 1970s energy crisis, a period when the United States experienced severe fuel shortages and rapidly rising gasoline prices. “They weren’t very efficient, but much of the early innovation in alternative energy was sparked by the oil crisis,” says Pacho.
However, as the energy crisis faded, the building’s use declined, and it was eventually at risk of being abandoned altogether. “The building was about to be destroyed,” says Pascal Lanciano, head of the science department. “Historically, it belonged to science, so we decided to reinvest in it and save it from demolition.” This reinvestment led to the creation of several hands-on courses focused on environmental sustainability and engineering, including the one-mod Applied Technologies in Botany class taught by Brian and Pascal.
This is a course where students actively engage with sustainable systems, and many students like Zoë Mir’27 have taken advantage of the opportunity to explore innovative practices. “We use hydroponic systems to grow plants, and then we design our own systems,” Zoë explains.
Through experiences like this, students such as Zoë and Jack Storie’26 have extended their learning into the Plant Club, which runs a variety of projects within the Energy Center. “Plant Club is a student organization where we garden in the greenhouse,” Jack says. “It’s so quiet compared to the rest of the school. You get to focus on just gardening.”
In addition to growing and selling plants, members also take responsibility for maintaining and improving the space. “The goal of the plant club is to make the building completely energy independent,” Zoë says. “We also have a mill and a water tank that should hopefully be up and running next year.” Through these efforts, both the Plant Club and Energy Center classes aim to address pressing issues such as climate change and the need for sustainable energy solutions.
There are several ways students can support the Energy Center. According to Jack, one of the easiest ways is to join the Plant Club or enroll in a class held in the space, especially since many sustainability topics are not covered in the traditional AP or IB curriculum.
“What if we could teach biology differently?” Pascal asks. Even though we are no longer in an oil crisis, the responsibility to care for the Earth remains. By learning to garden and explore sustainable energy, students can take meaningful steps toward building a healthier relationship with the environment—one that ultimately helps sustain both the planet and ourselves.
