Automation allows school to teach by example
Benchmarking a school with Energy Star can confirm the efficiency of the Building Automation System and serve as just one way to verify energy efficiency and help to lower costs.
School officials are searching for ways to put money back into their operating budget without cutting positions or reducing the quality of education offered. One school near Boston MA is teaching others by example and proving that schools can sustain and grow by investing in themselves in order to serve others. "Doing more with less" is more than just a motto at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. Building and Grounds Department Coordinator, Kevin Rossley, says the school has significantly reduced its energy consumption and corresponding expenses by utilizing a Building Automation System (BAS) to manage the lighting and HVAC systems. Over the past few years they have tracked the school’s energy efficiency through ENERGY STAR, a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. The average annual energy bill at the high school has decreased nearly 24% since the BAS was installed in 2006. This is just one example how payback on the investment can convert into a payment for the future.
(4/16/2009)
Schools save BIG through stimulus package
The economic stimulus package holds nearly $6.3 billion for state and local governments to utilize towards energy efficiency in public buildings.
Some school officials are hoping that long-term savings can sprout from those one-time upgrades that usually get shoved aside when budgets fall short and tax mills fail. Replacing in-efficient HVAC equipment, installing insulation, replacing drafty windows and installing building automation control systems are just a few of the basic upgrades being utilized by otherwise financially strapped school districts all across the nation. School Administrators say the goal is to reduce utility costs in order to free up money for higher-priority initiatives. So far, the efficiency upgrades made by the West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan school district has already saved the district around $100 per pupil, or about $500,000 a year.
(4/06/2009)
Copyright © 2009 Engineered Systems & Energy Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.