Brother and sister Douglas and Sadie Brock check out the shelves of the Media Center at the brand new South Adams Elementary and Middle School facility in Berne on registration day, a week before classes began last month. The new $20 million facility, incorporating “green” design, features extensive use of natural day lighting throughout the building to promote a healthier interior and better learning environment. The 149,678-square-foot building was designed to meet ENERGY STAR performance standards for energy efficiency and indoor air quality. Another benefit of the new facility, noted mom Jill Brock, is that it combines pre-K through 8th grade in one location. Sadie, a seventh grader, and Douglas, a fifth grader, would have been attending two separate schools in two separate towns several miles apart, meaning more driving between the schools. The Brocks are consumers of Jay County REMC.
Photos by Richard G. Biever
Sequoyah Bible, administrative assistant for energy management with
Tippecanoe School Corporation in Tippecanoe County, is proud of the prestigious ENERGY STAR
plaque at the entrance to the corporation’s Wainwright Middle School,
south of Lafayette, … and the 16 others earned by all the other schools
in the district. “To have gotten one of these would be terrific,” he
said. “To have gotten all 17 is just outstanding.” Above the ENERGY STAR plaque is a Tipmont REMC energy conservation partnership plaque that helps motivate students and staff to continue their smart use of energy. By encouraging energy-smart behaviors and using energy efficient equipment and design, the school corporation has saved $13.8 million in energy costs since 1996.
Schools don thinking caps to find smarter ways to use energy
by Nancy S. GrantSchool districts throughout Indiana, working with their local electric co-ops and other energy experts, are demonstrating right now that using energy more efficiently can save a lot of money.
Homeowners and business people often put off looking for ways to improve energy efficiency and lower their energy use because they think it will be too expensive, or take too long to see results. They also worry that reducing energy use will require too many compromises, too many difficult changes. Indiana’s schools, practicing the good energy habits many are now teaching to students, are proving that it’s a lot easier these days to make real energy efficiency progress and enjoy the results.
Quick start earns good marksDecatur County Community Schools in Greensburg began their energy efficiency program during the last school year. Instead of spending a lot of money up front to replace entire heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in the district’s administration building and four schools, they found a much simpler solution.
Maintenance Director and Energy Education Specialist Donald Lewellyn said, “We bought time clocks that only cost a hundred or so dollars each to add to our existing equipment.” Using automated schedules that adjust temperature and humidity levels to the bare necessities when the buildings are unoccupied nights and weekends, energy use each month is dramatically lower.
During the day and after school hours, common sense, no-cost strategies, such as turning off lights and computer systems when not needed, are also helping reduce energy use.
It’s all part of a popular new energy management concept known as “cost avoidance.” Lower energy use any time of the day or night means lower energy bills each month. Avoiding those previously budgeted monthly costs frees up money that schools can use for other expenses, such as textbooks and teachers’ salaries, or be saved to pay for additional energy improvements in the future.
During the first seven months of Decatur’s program, the school district saved $226,000. Lewellyn gives plenty of credit for the district’s quick success to discussions with Decatur County REMC about technical electricity issues, as well as specialized advice from a national energy service company, Energy Education of Dallas, Texas.
Energy service companies (ESCOs) are independent businesses with teams of experts who help their customers gather information about current energy use, teach them how to monitor and record energy expenses, then develop short- and long-range plans to reduce those expenses. Certified experts analyze everything down to the tiniest detail, then calculate how each proposed change will affect expenses. ESCOs can show school districts how to make exact budget comparisons between continuing to do things as usual or switching to new energy use patterns, then develop a sensible plan for change tailored to their unique situation.
Long-term achievementsThirteen years ago, Lafayette’s Tippecanoe School Corporation hired classroom teacher Sequoyah Bible to do double duty in a new job as energy manager for the district’s 14 buildings. As enrollment there has climbed to about 12,000 students, the district’s added new space to many of its original buildings, brought in 25 portable structures, and built two new middle schools and three new elementary schools.
In the old and new buildings, everyone is pitching in to reduce energy use. Bible said, “Our teachers are learning a new energy ethic, opening or closing window blinds as appropriate, turning off computers and printers when not needed, and developing good energy habits. They’re good role models for the students.”
Building custodians are also part of the energy saving team, learning new ways to use equipment and offering friendly reminders to students and staff when they see energy being wasted.
“I have to tip my hat to our electric co-op, Tipmont REMC,” Bible said, “because they are really customer service oriented. They’ve been a great partner with us, listening to us and providing new ways to help us save money.”
Bible estimates the school’s energy programs currently are saving an average of $92,838 per month on energy costs. Long-term savings are adding up. Since December of 1996, Tippecanoe has saved $13.8 million in energy costs.
Energy Education works with 37 Indiana school districts, including Tippecanoe and Decatur. Energy Education’s Jan Noel-Smith said, “Over the life of the various multi-year programs we have in place throughout the state, these school districts have reported total savings of more than $100 million through the spring of 2009. On average, our Indiana districts have decreased their energy costs by 27 percent.”
More energy-saving optionsEnergy Systems Group, a national company headquartered in Evansville, provides a different kind of energy management service to schools that need to replace old inefficient equipment. Indianapolis regional manager Sam Welge said, “Our part of the industry is based on renovation of existing buildings and replacement of equipment. Our clients want to install the most up-to-date, energy efficient equipment that they can, so they are looking for energy savings and operational savings to pay for the new items they need.”
Recent changes in Indiana law recognize that a new option, the performance contracting method for procurement of goods and services, can help such schools save money in the long-run. This innovation means that school districts don’t have to accept the lowest bid for new equipment; they can also evaluate the long-term savings that will be realized by spending a little bit more on substantially more efficient models. Energy Systems Group and other similar companies guarantee that the equipment they recommend and install when used properly will cost less to operate and maintain than cheaper models. The reduction in operating costs means more money is available to quickly pay for the new equipment, and will continue to save the district a lot of money over the long term.
Welge said, “The original section of a school building we’re renovating for the Switzerland County School Corporation in Vevay was built in 1954, with additions in 1986. Our project includes lighting retrofits and upgrades, electrical panel and circuit replacement, door replacements and improved roof insulation. When completed next month, this project should lower electricity use and operating costs for the building by about 10 percent on an annual basis.”
Districts that need to build completely new schools have a lot of energy-saving options, too. As part of its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, the U.S. Green Building Council offers practical advice geared just to school buildings. From the first architectural drawings to groundbreaking to ribbon-cutting, the program features construction ideas that will be energy efficient, comfortable and safe for students and teachers, all at a reasonable cost. Suggestions cover everything from placing a new building on its site to take full advantage of sunlight; the size, shape and placement of windows; new insulation concepts; and how to determine appropriately sized HVAC systems.
Erecting such energy efficient buildings is easier now because a new Indiana public law (IC 5-30) allows school districts to follow a new construction method known as Design Build. On July 23 this summer, South Adams Schools in Berne became the first public school district in Indiana to open a school built using this new procedure. Compared to traditional building methods, the new energy-efficient elementary school’s construction cost of $19.9 million is almost 16 percent lower than doing things the old-fashioned way, and saved taxpayers nearly $4 million.
Bonus pointsThroughout construction, South Adams Schools kept track of every energy detail, with an eye toward earning a special LEED certificate for the new elementary school. Public recognition and demonstration of the value of energy efficiency programs is becoming more common due the passage of Indiana’s Public Law 143-2008. Since Jan. 1, the new 2009 Indiana School Design Guidelines include recommendations that all K-12 schools should install an energy measurement and verification system, and include a public display that tracks and explains building energy use.
Helping students, homeowners and business people in local communities understand the impact of energy use patterns is a longtime tradition for electric co-ops.
Tom Lott, energy consultant with Hoosier Energy, the generation and transmission co-op that provides electricity for 17 distribution co-ops in the southern half of Indiana, said, “We have a key account manager and staff who work with our local co-ops to reduce consumption and slow down the growth in demand for electricity. We like to be involved with schools from the beginning so we can help educate them about the latest technology for insulation and HVAC equipment, and to design a school building that operates efficiently.”
That’s smart for students and school budget directors, but helping schools save energy has an impact far beyond the classroom. “Demand-side management programs, such as energy efficiency programs in schools, are meant to reduce consumption — and that slows down the need to build additional generating capacity,” Lott said. “Power plants are expensive to build, so delaying their construction saves money for co-op members.” And that’s a strategy that earns a gold star.
Nancy S. Grant is a freelance writer from the Louisville area who writes extensively about energy issues. She wrote the January 2009 Electric Consumer cover story on biofuels and is a regular contributor to Kentucky Living, Kentucky’s electric cooperative magazine. Here’s a link to her Web site.
Colleges plan for savingsEnergy efficiency programs on Indiana’s college and university campuses must deal with an extra variation — what the students do with all the electronic devices they bring to their dorm rooms. Energy costs for the “plug load” for TVs, cell phone and laptop computer rechargers, refrigerators and microwaves can add up quickly.
Robert Koester, director for energy research and education service at Ball State University said, “Schools now hand out guidelines for incoming freshman explaining how ENERGY STAR-items can help manage energy use on campus.”
Ball State University and the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education are the joint hosts for the “Greening of the Campus VIII: Embracing Change” at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis Sept. 20-23. For details about topics and how to register to attend, visit
www.bsu.edu/greening.
Doing your energy homeworkWant to use energy more efficiently and lower your energy costs for your home, farm, or business? Try these seven steps:
1 – Set a broad goal to improve energy efficiency
2 – Take a look at how you use energy now and where you could make changes (an energy audit by your local co-op can help)
3 – Set realistic priorities for your unique situation
4 – Develop an energy action plan with short- and long-term goals
5 – Put your plan into action, one stage at a time
6 – Check your progress at regular intervals
7 – Report to family members or co-workers as energy savings occur, and be sure to praise achievements.
Links to outside sources:• Link to Tippecanoe School Corporation's "Living and Learning Green" page. • Link to South Adams School Corporation's new building project.• Link to Energy Education's Web site. • Link to Energy Systems Group's Web site.• Link to U.S. Green Building Council (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program)