Yellow Brick Schoolhouse is Now Safer for Children and the Environment

The Yellow Brick is one of the historical buildings of Aspen and has been a hub for education and childcare since 1960. Today, it sees more than 135 kids daily from ages two months to five years, houses three preschools, and provides jobs for locals in our community. With safety as a priority, they continue to update the Yellow Brick building while preserving the history and iconic facade. A recent project on their list was adding an icemelt system.

Until now, the Yellow Brick used traditional ice melt crystals to melt the snow and ice that covered their exterior concrete steps in the winter, which can contribute to pollution in our watersheds and rivers. Also, the City of Aspen committed to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by 63% by 2030. With all of this in mind, the Yellow Brick turned to CORE. And, with the guidance of CORE’s Energy Concierge decided to install a heat pump icemelt system, which will be ready for use this coming winter. The new icemelt system will provide safety for families and teachers using the Yellow Brick and serve as an example for others to use electric heat pumps.

Cold climate heat pumps are three times more efficient than a gas boiler icemelt system and run on electricity. Further, since the City of Aspen Utility is 100% renewable energy, the Yellow Brick’s icemelt system is net-zero, saving energy and increasing the overall health and well-being of our community. Trevor, Yellow Brick’s building manager, said it was easy to work with CORE, and that Tim, CORE’s Energy Concierge was very responsive. The icemelt system will be added to the list of projects that CORE has worked on with the Yellow Brick, further aiding in the transition to a clean energy future.

Give our Energy Concierge a call today to learn how you can lower your carbon footprint, too.