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.
Charles City Press By Staci Schwickerath, Staff writer
Flipping off light switches and keeping the blinds closed are paying off for the Charles City School District.
After six months working with Energy Education, Inc., the school district has avoided paying approximately $31,600 in energy costs, according to energy manager and fifth-grade teacher Erik Hoefer.
“These funds are money we did not have to take out of our general fund and it goes to anything for educating our kids, like teacher salaries. Obviously, it’s a positive thing when we save out of the general fund,” explained Hoefer.
Conserving energy takes many small steps and commitment from everyone in the school system, he said.
“This is the effect of the people in the district working together. That’s essentially what this comes down to. We don’t have teachers that are negative. Everyone has been great about participating. It goes to the credit of the Charles City Community School District employees that we’ve been successful,” Hoefer said.
Simple steps, such as turning off hall lights, not running exhaust fans needlessly and shutting off equipment, have made the difference.
“We make sure to shut all the computers down at the end of the day instead of waiting an hour. You multiply that hour by how many computers we have, times 180 school days, and that’s a considerable amount of energy we’re saving,” he said.
While trying to conserve energy, the program does not sacrifice comfort.
“We look to see if we can accomplish the maximum comfort for students and staff without running the boiler eight hours a day. Maybe we can run it six hours instead,” Hoefer explained.
In the contract with Energy Education, Inc., a energy management consulting company based in Wichita Falls, Texas that specializes in schools, the district pays $32,400 for the program, $5,000 for software the first year and supplies a salary for a part-time energy manager. The amount saved takes temperatures and energy price changes into consideration.
“We are investing dollars to save this money. With the cost, we get lots of professional guidance and recommendations from the company. The company guaranteed us that we would at least break even or they’d cut us a check for the difference,” said Superintendent David Bradley. “We aren’t at the break even point over the first six months, but we’re confident we’ll be at that point by the end of the year and show cost savings.”
The school can continue the program after four years for only the cost of an energy manager and updating software.
“They’re going to help us change our habits in the next four years. Year five, six and seven is when we’ll really see the benefits,” said Bradley.
Those benefits are already evident, according to Hoefer.
At the high school, MidAmerican Energy replaced the meter because readings were significantly lower that last year’s numbers, only to learn that the meter was correct and the building was just using less energy. In September 2005, the high school used 66,000 kilowatt hours at a cost of about $134.60 per day. This September, 13,800 kwh were used, reducing the cost to $50 a day, according to Hoefer.
At Washington Elementary, where half the building is now being heated and cooled using a geothermal system, the first energy bill of the school year showed a decline in energy used.
“We’ve got 14,080 fewer kwh used. It’s a way more efficient system than what we had in the past,” he said, adding that all buildings have shown progress.
As energy manager. Hoefer fills out a report card for each building and makes 10-15 building visits per week at varying times of the day. He also meets weekly with a representative from Energy Education.
Hoefer became the energy manager on July 1, after the previous manager resigned.
“This is really a people job,” he explained. “Teachers, principals, support staff, custodians, everyone who is a member of the school district — we work together to find ways to conserve energy.”
Hoefer has spoke during staff meetings and regularly e-mails tips on saving energy.
“I think what’s fun is when the students in all the buildings are taking an interest in this. Students are letting us know when things are left on. They’re great about that. Kids are very conscientious of the fact that we want to be a green school district. I think they are seeing that in the U.S. as a whole,” Hoefer said.
He said several projects are being considered to help save more energy.
“We’re going to start look at putting some things on timers, like in the locker rooms at the middle school and high school for example,” Hoefer said. “We’re going to look at getting better lighting in the gym. It’ll be a win-win situation. We’ll have better lighting and we’ll save money.”
Contact Staci Schwickerath at
staci@charlescitypress.com
or (641) 228-3211 ext. 22