Journal Times

Racine Unified finds $500,000 in energy savings

Tuesday, April 22, 2008
BY PAUL SLOTH

RACINE — The Racine Unified School District saved more than half a million dollars in 2007 with the help of an energy savings program the district adopted two years ago, officials said.

It took a little more than simply switching off the lights, shutting down computers and turning down the heat in the district’s more than 30 schools, but that’s the gist of the district’s effort to save energy and, in turn, save money, according to the district’s two energy managers.

Dan O’Brien and Bob Schneck presented the district’s savings to the Unified School Board during Monday’s meeting.

From January 2007 through December 2007, Unified saved a little more than $511,000.

The district’s energy savings improved about 13 percent from 2006.

“The whole idea is to eliminate energy waste,” Schneck said. “It’s all about saving dollars for the classroom and our students. It’s all about saving dollars and returning those dollars to the classroom.”

O’Brien and Schneck spend a good deal of their time traipsing around the district’s 3.3 million square feet of building space looking for ways to cut energy costs. They make suggestions and recommendations to district staff in the schools.

The two are former employees of the Public Business Consulting Group the district hired after ending its relationship with the firm.

The district fell short of its goal of increasing savings by 20 percent, Schneck said.

David Hazen, Unified’s chief financial officer, said he plans to update the board on the savings that PBCG promised and how some of the programs the company helped implement are working in the district, since the public has asked to see the savings.

In 2006, the district adopted the energy savings program from Energy Education Inc., a national energy management consulting firm that works in school districts, large and small, throughout the country on energy saving programs.

The district pays Energy Education Inc. a monthly fee for its services and pays salaries for the district’s two energy managers, but the district is breaking even by about $100,000 or more, Hazen said.

“This program is working in the district. These savings are real,” Hazen said. “If we didn’t have someone out there reminding people to conserve energy, they may not do it as often.”

Earlier in the evening, the district presented Matt Geiger, principal of West Ridge Elementary School, with the first Energy Star Award for his school’s energy saving efforts.

It’s the only school in the district and one of only a small number in the country to receive the award.

Unified became an official partner with Energy Star, a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy to save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.