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Nearly every day, at least one media outlet somewhere in the country carryies a story about the success of our clients’ behavior-based 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.
Energy Education Media Contact: Jan Noel-Smith 214.273.2814 jnoelsmith@energyed.com
Energy Education Media Fact Sheet
Cleburne Times-Review January 19, 2010 An energy education Contract to save energy will pay for itself, district says By Pete Kendall Cleburne ISD’s energy conservation contract with the firm Energy Education is filled with an assortment of pluses and no visible minuses, said CISD’s Gary Buckingham, executive director of district operations. The firm’s fee will come from energy cost savings realized by CISD. If there are no cost savings, Energy Education submits no invoice. Additionally, the salary of the district’s energy officer, still to be hired, will be paid from the energy cost savings. It’s up to Energy Education to show CISD how to save the money. That process begins in earnest Feb. 1. “This company has been around since 1986, and they’re in over 1,000 districts in 48 states,” Buckingham said Friday. “They work with over 50 districts in Texas. It’s a people-oriented conservation program. One of the big things is staff input, generating ideas, One of our teachers said yesterday, ‘Staff will have a lot of neat ideas on ways to conserve energy.’ “Our goal is for the savings to go back to the students and staff.” Payroll is No. 1 in district revenue outlay, typically 80 percent of a school district budget. Energy costs are No. 2. “I didn’t realize that until I started dealing with these people,” Buckingham said. “When I was a campus principal, I thought about energy, but I wasn’t as conscious of it as I am now. And this program is much more complex than just someone going around and flipping light switches on and off. Energy Education is going to send in heating and air conditioning experts and boiler specialists. The list of experts goes on and on. They’re going to analyze every set point of energy we’re using and let us know ways we can be better stewards. I’m anxious to see the idea they come up with. “The great thing is that the district isn’t going to be out any money. That’s guaranteed in the contract. That’s a good deal.” Buckingham will oversee the program at the district level with chief financial officer David Johnson. The new hire, an energy specialist, will be hands-on. “That’s a unique position,” Buckingham said. “That person’s going to be working some long and unusual hours, a lot of nights and weekends and holidays. The goal is to make students and staff as comfortable as possible [during school hours] while saving on energy during the unoccupied times of the day. Our human resources will be posting that position immediately. We’ll run that for two or three weeks and hopefully hire someone within a month. “That person will be working closely with me and David Johnson and also with James Walters, our maintenance supervisor. We think we’ll get some quality applicants.” Energy may be most easily saved at times of the day and night that campus facilities are vacant. “We need to make sure our utilities aren’t running full blast,” Buckingham said. “Obviously, it’s more than gas and electricity. Energy Education is going to look at how much water we use, when we water, that sort of thing. I think it can be a fairly painless process. The administration and school board have decided to take a pro-active step. “Our budget for energy is over $2 million. We’re projecting a $6.7 million saving over 10 years.” Buckingham said he hopes staff can be trained in a year to comply with the new energy dictates. “We think we’re going to see substantial savings within four months. We’ll be tracking that on a daily basis, and the energy specialist will be meeting with me and David Johnson weekly.” Little things add up in energy conservation, Buckingham said. “Often times, we leave our computers running all night. We log off instead of shutting down. Space heater and refrigerators are examples.” Personal classroom refrigerators are no longer allowed in the district. Other examples might be closing blinds or lowering awning to ensure that classroom temperatures remain constant and erecting rainwater harvesting systems to lower water utilities. “In older buildings, if there are a lot of windows, we’re going to look at whether we need blinds,” Buckingham said. “We don’t think about awning in this day and age, but it works. I think the experts are going to bring up stuff we’ve never thought about. They’re going to give us hundreds of ideas.”
Cleburne Times-Review January 19, 2010
An energy education Contract to save energy will pay for itself, district says
By Pete Kendall Cleburne ISD’s energy conservation contract with the firm Energy Education is filled with an assortment of pluses and no visible minuses, said CISD’s Gary Buckingham, executive director of district operations.
The firm’s fee will come from energy cost savings realized by CISD.
If there are no cost savings, Energy Education submits no invoice.
Additionally, the salary of the district’s energy officer, still to be hired, will be paid from the energy cost savings.
It’s up to Energy Education to show CISD how to save the money.
That process begins in earnest Feb. 1.
“This company has been around since 1986, and they’re in over 1,000 districts in 48 states,” Buckingham said Friday. “They work with over 50 districts in Texas. It’s a people-oriented conservation program. One of the big things is staff input, generating ideas, One of our teachers said yesterday, ‘Staff will have a lot of neat ideas on ways to conserve energy.’
“Our goal is for the savings to go back to the students and staff.”
Payroll is No. 1 in district revenue outlay, typically 80 percent of a school district budget. Energy costs are No. 2.
“I didn’t realize that until I started dealing with these people,” Buckingham said. “When I was a campus principal, I thought about energy, but I wasn’t as conscious of it as I am now. And this program is much more complex than just someone going around and flipping light switches on and off. Energy Education is going to send in heating and air conditioning experts and boiler specialists. The list of experts goes on and on. They’re going to analyze every set point of energy we’re using and let us know ways we can be better stewards. I’m anxious to see the idea they come up with.
“The great thing is that the district isn’t going to be out any money. That’s guaranteed in the contract. That’s a good deal.”
Buckingham will oversee the program at the district level with chief financial officer David Johnson. The new hire, an energy specialist, will be hands-on.
“That’s a unique position,” Buckingham said. “That person’s going to be working some long and unusual hours, a lot of nights and weekends and holidays. The goal is to make students and staff as comfortable as possible [during school hours] while saving on energy during the unoccupied times of the day. Our human resources will be posting that position immediately. We’ll run that for two or three weeks and hopefully hire someone within a month.
“That person will be working closely with me and David Johnson and also with James Walters, our maintenance supervisor. We think we’ll get some quality applicants.”
Energy may be most easily saved at times of the day and night that campus facilities are vacant.
“We need to make sure our utilities aren’t running full blast,” Buckingham said. “Obviously, it’s more than gas and electricity. Energy Education is going to look at how much water we use, when we water, that sort of thing. I think it can be a fairly painless process. The administration and school board have decided to take a pro-active step.
“Our budget for energy is over $2 million. We’re projecting a $6.7 million saving over 10 years.”
Buckingham said he hopes staff can be trained in a year to comply with the new energy dictates.
“We think we’re going to see substantial savings within four months. We’ll be tracking that on a daily basis, and the energy specialist will be meeting with me and David Johnson weekly.”
Little things add up in energy conservation, Buckingham said.
“Often times, we leave our computers running all night. We log off instead of shutting down. Space heater and refrigerators are examples.”
Personal classroom refrigerators are no longer allowed in the district.
Other examples might be closing blinds or lowering awning to ensure that classroom temperatures remain constant and erecting rainwater harvesting systems to lower water utilities.
“In older buildings, if there are a lot of windows, we’re going to look at whether we need blinds,” Buckingham said. “We don’t think about awning in this day and age, but it works. I think the experts are going to bring up stuff we’ve never thought about. They’re going to give us hundreds of ideas.”
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