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Our clients’ success


Nearly every day, a newspaper somewhere in the country is carrying a story about the success of our clients’ energy conservation programs. Below are just a few examples of the great work they are doing, and the privilege it is to serve them in such tangible, noteworthy ways.
  
Albert Lea Tribune
April 3, 2007

By Sarah Kirchner, staff writer

In its third year of working with conservation partner Energy Education, Albert Lea School District 241 exceeded its energy savings projections by $30,424. The district was expected to reach $196,000 in savings, but from February 2006 to February 2007 it saved $261,474.

“Surpassing savings projections is a significant achievement. Albert Lea School District has achieved this level of success by consistently implementing the people-oriented approach to energy conservation and maintaining productive efforts at all levels of the organization. We commend the superintendent and school board, and other administration, faculty and staff members for clearly fulfilling their commitment to being good stewards of the taxpayers’ money and the environment,” said William Spears, CEO and founder of Energy Education.

In the entire three years the district and Energy Education have been working together, the district saved $551,884, which is a savings of over 20 percent.

In the past year of the partnership, the district saved an average of 26 percent in all the buildings. Lakeview Elementary School has the best record with a savings of 34.4 percent. The district’s goal was 15 to 20 percent.

“Energy Education likes to see savings between 20 and 30 percent, so we’re on the low end of that,” District Energy Manager Steve Lund reported to the school board Monday.

With the recent budget cuts throughout the district, the energy savings came in handy.

“The more we can save on energy the more we have to spend on the classroom and other things,” said Superintendent David Prescott. Prescott said if the district hadn’t focused so strongly on saving energy and done as well as it had then more cuts would have been made. 

The energy savings expected was factored into the budget.

“Steve Lund has done an excellent job. Our staff has made extra efforts to control energy usage in every area,” Prescott said. “Thanks to this dedication on the part of our district staff members, we have an additional opportunity to protect our community’s taxpayers’ investment in our public schools.”

Energy Education trains districts on how to save energy. Major factors include making sure lights are off and heat is turned down when a building is not in use. Prescott said the district is focusing on what individual teachers, administrators and staff can do to help the district save energy. He said many are even practicing the same efforts in their homes.

“Our greatest savings is in electricity. We can control that better than we can control our natural gas costs,” Lund said.

Custodial staff are working to monitor energy use and reduce situations that consume a lot of energy. Each building is different so the custodians specify their energy use to what each building needs.

“The focus is on changing behaviors,” Lund said. The program is based on people versus machines because the staff are the ones who can help with the cost by turning off lights and computers and managing the heating system.

“We’re constantly looking at how we can manage these systems,” Lund said. That thinking is new to the district, focusing on how to manage cost from day to day.

“A big part of it is just trying to give our teachers and students what they need when the building is occupied,” Lund said.

Energy Education is funded by the savings it creates. However, it guarantees the district will save more money than it costs to join or Energy Education will pay the difference. The organization has worked with 810 educational organizations in the nation, helping to save $1.2 billion in energy in 20 years.

District 241 is in a four-year contract with Energy Education. 

Posted on Tuesday, April 03, 2007 (Archive on Monday, July 02, 2007)
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