Back in 2000, the “new” school building renovations had just been completed. The conversation in those discussion rooms was about expanding DGN and, of course, how to improve life here for the entire community. One conversation that was not brought to priority was how the school can become greener, or economically friendlier.

For the new master facility plan, these ideas have been brought to light. Solar panels have already been placed onto the rooftops, but haven’t been used for sustainability purposes. In contrast, they’ve been used for scientific data only, since they do not have the capability to power the school. Science department head Michael Heinz stated he has alerted the architects and administration to consider sustainability.

District 99 is attempting to modernize DGN with the Master Facility Plan with plans to include solar panels as soon as they can.

“The next opportunity we may have to even think about sustainability could be 40 years from now when there’s another renovation done to the building,” Heinz said.

While funding is an issue, grants are available to pay for the solar panels and the structure that needs to be built.
Other schools in the area have been modernizing their educational institutions as well, in preparation for an age of continued pro-environmental talk. Hinsdale Central, for example, had a fundraiser to raise money for solar panels on the building. It raised over $100,000 for the project. Niles West is another school that has incorporated solar panels when 8 years ago they added them to the freshman school building. Like DGN, these schools have kept up to the talks of environmentally friendly behaviors.