District says efficiencies have saved $1.5m in utility payments
The Energy Star logo. Most are accustomed to finding this label of efficiency on washers, refrigerators and computers, but how about on schools?
Three schools in the Bethlehem Central School District will sport the emblem of the EPA-run program after placing in the top 25 percent most efficient of like buildings nationwide, a development school officials credit to initiatives pushed during the last eight years.
The Energy Star analysis shows the High School is performing in the 92nd percentile for energy use when compared to other, similar high schools. The Middles School stands in the 76th percentile, and Elsmere in the 75th.
Since the High School and Middle School combined account for a full 70 percent of the district’s energy usage, high efficiencies at these buildings translate into big cost savings for the district.
District officials say since launching an energy efficiency initiative in 2002, the district has avoided a cumulative $1.5 million in utility payments. The coming year’s school budget estimates $1.47 million in energy costs.
That’s a welcome incentive to the district, especially as administrators deal with costs they have little control over like rising health insurance costs.
With school budgets being so tight and the planet in peril, it makes sense that energy efficiency is an area of focus for the district, Superintendent Michael Tebbano said. `This designation shows that our work is paying dividends that we will see year after year.`
Those savings came from a lot of locations, said Director of Facilities and Operations Gregg Nolte. A massive capital improvements referendum approved in 2003 has placed more efficient boilers and air conditioning in many buildings, but smaller initiatives like making sure lights and computers are turned off at the end of the day have a cumulative effect.
`With the complexity of our operation, it’s not just one thing that’s going to save us a lot of money,` Nolte said. `It’s a little bit here and a little bit there.`
BC also joined a BOCES consortium of school districts that competitively bid for energy. That’s resulted in low, fixed utility rates that allow administrators to more effectively budget for the future.
A new district-wide monitoring system is helping officials eliminate waste, also. The computer program can monitor temperatures in every room and hallway in the district, as well as check in on ventilators, boilers and air conditioning units. If there’s a problem, administrators will catch it that much faster.
`The control has helped us with our conservation,` Nolte said. `We’re trying to be a little more proactive than reactive.`
Along those lines, the district has for the past several years retained an energy manager, who conducts energy audits and after-hour walkthroughs of the buildings. That attention to detail has resulted in some startling discoveries, said Nolte, including a ventilation unit stuck to `on` that was literally blowing heat out of an elementary school.
High school science teacher Paul O’Reilly is filling the energy manager position, but in the 2010-11 school budget the stipend for that position is partially de-funded. With the wheels already turning on many of the district’s energy saving initiatives, though, Nolte thinks the district can keep reducing its usage through education of staff and the student body.
`You can’t just have one guy or gal doing this. It has to be everybody,` he said.
Beyond education, there still remains work to be done. The district will be embarking on a project to replace more light fixtures with energy efficient models and exploring a New York Power Authority project aimed at putting up large solar panel installations across the state.
BC will also pursue Energy Star ratings at its other buildings, with the eventual goal of having all schools certified.
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