Energy Efficiency Measures for Schools

If you look at a typical school district budget, facilities operations and maintenance costs are one of the big-ticket items. What if you could decrease the amount your school district spends on utilities?
Is your school energy-efficient? If your school is typical, your power usage goes up every year. Has your school instigated an energy-savings program? It can be as simple as starting a student green club. The students can provide a watt-watching program for your school. Let’s look at some ways schools experience increased power usage and some strategies to help decrease utility costs:
• Start an energy conservation education campaign. Involve the whole school.
• Schools have more computers now than ever. Rather than use screen savers, which don’t save much energy, put computers on “sleep” which will help. Also start a program to turn all computers off when not in use.
• What gets measured gets saved. Have a committee that tracks where lights are being left turned on unnecessarily. Many schools submitted for ARRA funding for projects to have motion sensor lights installed. Students are especially good at being the “lighting police”.
• Make sure HVAC equipment has clean filters and is operating correctly. Newer HVAC systems tend to have programming available that will help with occupied/unoccupied cycles. Have your facilities staff ensure the building HVAC controls are programmed to provide unoccupied settings appropriate for energy savings.
• Are doors being left open during lunch, recess, before and after school? Note problem areas and have students help with efforts to keep doors shut. Or think about adding a vestibule.
• Green in a Box was discussed in a previous blog. You can use the school walkthrough to help target the overall school for individual measures.
• eQuest energy modeling software was reviewed in a previous blog. Model your buildings using eQuest for a benchmark; then compare the benchmark to your actual building. You can come up with a list and the priorities for energy efficiency improvements.
• I drove past a school last week and the lights were on late at night. The custodial staff was cleaning. A new trend in energy savings is to accomplish school janitorial services during the day. If your school is heavily used in the evenings for community events this won’t work, but hopefully if your school is used in the evenings you’re getting rent for your facility to offset utility costs. In any case you’ll want to ensure you’re heating/cooling your building only when needed.
• Use a kill-a-watt meter to determine electricity usage. They cost $30 each, you plug them in and see how much energy you’re using on any given appliance.
• Ask teachers to reduce their in-classroom appliances or take them home. There has been a trend in recent years to have refrigerators, coffee makers, toaster ovens, and other appliances in the classroom. Besides creating an environment for insects and other pests, this creates a lot of extra drain on electricity. When you do purchase appliances, purchase Energy Star appliances.
• Use daylight harvesting (daylighting). How many schools operate with blinds or curtains shut? There are other benefits to providing natural daylight in lieu of electric lighting.
Also look for energy efficiency funding through federal, state, and local entities. Most states and many utility companies have programs that will help schools.
http://www.energysavers.gov/financial/
http://www.epa.gov/greenbuilding/tools/funding.htm