When Hartman Hall was opened just over a year ago, it was an accomplishment for the Moorestown Friends community. The new environmentally friendly building added some zest to the campus. However, the installment of Hartman Hall was a reminder that the lack of air conditioning in the main building at MFS makes sticky and hot weather uncomfortable for faculty and students alike.

        On May 20, 2013, Headmaster Larry Van Meter emailed the school faculty regarding a plan to install air conditioning in all campus facilities. The email was “an opportune time to bring everyone up to date on our plans to provide eventual air conditioning throughout our school buildings,” as Van Meter stated in the email.

The astounding project was a goal put in place during the 2011 Strategic Plan. It posed a challenge of installing air conditioning in a “green” state. Van Meter explained in the email, “We also want to be as frugal as possible on the upfront of installing the system because retrofitting old buildings can be complicated and costly.”  When interviewed about the email, Van Meter talked about this costly installation, saying, “Green energy can be purchased, although it is at a premium cost.”

        “We wanted to be true to our school values, so we set a goal for ourselves to figure out how to air condition these buildings and to do it in a way that would be carbon neutral,” Van Meter explained. Therefore, a plan for carbon neutral air conditioning was installed in the new Master Plan for the campus, and the firm that will conduct the plan will be chosen shortly.