Energy Update: $94,000 saved in July, 11 schools moving towards ENERGY STAR certification

Evergreen Public Schools Energy Conservation Manager, David Cone estimates that in the period of time from January to August 2009, close to $600,000 additional dollars in energy costs have been saved. July alone showed a savings of $94,000 from last year. Cone, who began work in the district last November, is continuing to work in conjunction with district staff and departments as well as the Clark County Public Utilities Department (PUD) to eliminate wasteful energy use and save the district hundreds of thousands of dollars every year.

Cone, who began his work by monitoring school system heating and cooling systems (HVAC) to ensure that they were only being used when buildings were occupied, has now moved on to more intensive research and modifications of school and district systems. This includes working with athletic directors to ensure that gym HVAC systems are being used only as necessary and to eliminate inefficiencies such as systems fighting to heat such a large space, only to immediately try to cool it down again. “I would call what we’re doing now, a sort of phase two of the process,” said Cone. “We’ve looked at what goes on during regular school day scheduling; now it’s time to see where we can save when it comes to extracurricular activities.”

In addition to looking at extracurricular scheduling, Cone has also begun to evaluate which schools in the district may qualify to become ENERGY STAR certified. In order to begin the process, a school must score a 75 on the ENERGY STAR point scale, which means it scored higher in efficient energy consumption and HVAC costs than 75 percent of its peer schools - schools which are of similar size and located in a similar geographic region. Cone has identified 11 schools throughout the district that could begin this process.

“The next stage will be to have an engineer come out to each of the schools and confirm that the educational environment has not been compromised by these savings,” explained Cone. “Among other things, the engineer will ensure there is adequate lighting and temperature regulation for students to be comfortable to learn.”

The engineer will also verify the energy consumption records that are being reported. “This is a great thing for our schools,” said Cone. “The engineering firm has agreed to give us a reduced rate of $500 per school for the engineer’s time and Clark PUD will fund ENERGY STAR certification up to $500, so this is another great step for the district that isn’t costing us anything.”

Cone fully believes that all schools in the district could eventually reach ENERGY STAR certification. “It’s just a matter of finding out where we can adjust our systems and what modifications we need to make in order to really control energy use.” Working closely with the maintenance department, steps have already been taken to improve all school systems. These include replacing antiquated HVAC control systems- that failed easily and were difficult to read- with digital systems that allow diagnostics and troubleshooting, and modifying the current system to take advantage of outside air dampers for cooling. The district is also utilizing a system from Clark PUD that allows the user to see daily Clark PUD readings taken at 15-minute increments.

“This is what we need,” said Cone. “We need to be able to see the spikes in energy use throughout the day so we can diagnose where the problems lie and how we can fix them. By using these tools to improve our systems we’re able to most responsibly use our resources.”

ENERGY STAR at a glance

The following 11 schools are beginning the ENERGY STAR certification process: Burnt Bridge Creek, Columbia Valley, Endeavour, Fisher’s Landing, Harmony, Illahee, Orchards, Pioneer, Silver Star and York Elementary Schools and Covington Middle School.

Those interested in more details and what ENERGY STAR means, can visit www.energystar.gov   under “Buildings and Plants,” and choose “Guidelines for Energy Management.

Evergreen Public Schools is also one of 2,264 organizations across the nation participating in the ENERGY STAR Challenge which includes reducing energy consumption by 10 percent or more. Details at http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=challenge.learn_challenge