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Sacramento School Undergoes Energy-Efficient Facelift

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- A Sacramento high school is going green to save taxpayers some green.

"It looked like an old elementary school," one student said of The Met Sacramento High School. "Now it actually looks like a high school."

"It was very rundown," another said. "We had heaters that only worked half the time."

Not anymore. The charter school on V Street just unveiled its $7 million facelift.

Sacramento City Unified School District officials say this is now the greenest campus in the district.

"Finally our school will be as awesome as our kids are," Principal Allen Young said.

From the moment you walk in, you can't help but notice the bright-colored painted walls and the unique ceiling, repurposed wood from the bleachers from Sac High, Young's alma mater.

"The bleachers where my wife and I used to watch games, so it's kinda fun," he said.

Throughout the project everything has a green component to it. The Met now features the district's first LED lighting, recycled glass countertops, recycled carpet and furniture as well as energy-efficient windows.

"They're not too expensive so it's not a lavish approach to window systems, but we can take care of them easier and they're high-performing," district project manager Paul Breckenridge said.

So how do these improvements translate into taxpayer savings? Breckenridge said it will add up in reduced energy costs.

"Tens of thousands, definitively, so I think over time the monies will be significant," he said.

So significant he says don't be surprised if this comes to a school near you.

"They'll see some of this in the future," he said of other district sites.

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