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New energy program can save money for school districts and taxpayers |
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The recently enacted EnergySmart Schools program can help school districts use energy efficiently, saving money for the schools and taxpayers
By DEBRA MASSIC Reporting Spring 2004 |
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HARRISBURG, Pa. The National School Board Administration recently enacted the EnergySmart Schools (EES) program in an effort to reduce costs of energy-related utilities for schools. Money saved as a result of the program can be spent on teachers salaries and other necessities, such as computers, to modernize schools. The program can also help to lower expenses for taxpayers. Its very exciting that the program is being endorsed nationally, said Ann Miller of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protections Office and Energy of Technology Development. Anything to spread the word more. Only about 283 schools nationwide have participated in the program as of 2003. A school district the size of Mechanicsburg, with about 3,500 students, has a budget of around $33 million. According to the states DEP website, energy related utilities, which include lights, heat and air conditioning and buses, cost the district about 1.2 percent of their budget, or $400,000. This is second only to the amount of money spent on personnel matters. A quarter of this money is wasted because it is being spent on energy inefficient operations. This number may not be a large percentage of the total budget, but over time, it can lead to millions of dollars wasted. Schools in large metropolitan areas can spend upwards of $20 million on energy utilities. The Philadelphia City School District, with 197,000 students, has a budget of about $1.7 billion. This means they spend upwards of 12 percent of their budget on energy costs with $425 million being wasted. According to Miller, this is why the EES program is especially making waves in the Philadelphia area. Her job is to work on bringing in state grants for consultants who will in turn revamp a school districts energy utilities through the help of EES. Schools have so many things that they absolutely have to do, said Miller. Writing proposals to reduce energy costs requires time from the school system that teachers and faculty just dont have. So these things fall down on their lists of things to do. The consultant groups, like the Alliance to Save Energy, specialize in reducing energy costs. Once they receive grants, they meet with other partners and hold the hand of the school system to learn how to save the school districts money, said Miller. Money-saving can begin immediately with changes as simple as new light bulbs that dont require a lot of costs. It can be a pretty quick turnaround and payback, said Miller. One district near Philadelphia, Norristown Area School District, took advantage of the EES program with the help of the energy service company, ESCO, in 1998. They improved lighting quality, while reducing energy use through energy-efficient lamps. Improvements were also made to heating and cooling systems by reducing fan speeds and the cooling tower pump flow. Energy management systems were installed to monitor the energy usage while keeping students and staff comfortable. According to the U.S. Department of Energys http://www.rebuild.gov/index.asp, Norristown Business Administrator Tom Padden said the school saved $20,000 after six months. He sees the situation as win-win for the school district, the students, and most assuredly, the taxpayers of our school district. The website states the district saves $256,000 a year in energy costs. Another suburban school district outside Philadelphia, Lower Merion, opted for alternative fleet buses. The district is in the middle of a fully-developed, affluent, residential area, and the decision was based on complaints from neighbors about noise and pollution, said Supervisor of Transportation Mike Andre. We worked with the community and the school board, he said, and opted for cleaner, alternative-fuel buses. Its what the community wanted to do. The change was expensive for the district. They received grant money totaling over $1 million from the state and installed fueling infrastructures in the buses that run on natural gas. The buses are cleaner and quieter and they make day-to-day operations easier, said Andre. Everybody is really satisfied, he said. The neighbors and drivers are happy. You cant get around the cost, but its still a win-win situation, alternative and feasible. The Pennsylvania School Board Association is not currently working with the EES program, according to their research department, but they are involved with the U.S. Green Building Council Certification. The USGBC is a coalition of leaders from the building industry that promote environmentally responsible and profitable buildings. Penn State University joined the coalition in March. If a building is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified, it is recognized nationally as meeting green building standards and is eligible to receive state and local government incentives, according to the USGBC website. Another component of the EnergySmart Schools program is continuing education. Schools can incorporate lessons about general energy information, sources and options with resources from the EES program. The Pennsylvania Department of Educations Division of Curriculum and Instructions Office of Environment and Ecology also funds programs that are taught in schools encouraging resource management. These programs stress the impact of human actions on natural systems and teach ways to manage the environment to meet the needs of society for long-term sustainability. The effects are ongoing, Miller said. Once energy education is put into a curriculum, students will learn energy-saving measures they can take with them for life. All stories in this magazine are the intellectual property of the individual authors. You may email comments about this story to: dlm352@psu.edu |
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