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Athens, PA: Editorial — Energy Program Provides Benefits to School District
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Daily & Sunday Review
April 12, 2007
Energy program provides benefits to school district
The Athens Area School Board received some good news when the results of its energy program were announced at one of its recent meetings.
Teacher Ron Fritz, the energy manager for the district, reported to the board that the Athens Area School District saved more than 1.2 million kilowatt hours in a nine-month period ending this past December.
According to Mr. Fritz, when translated into dollars and cents, the district saved nearly $116,000 in the period because of the energy program.
Bravo!
Mr. Fritz explained that not only did the district save money, it also did its part in being more environmentally friendly. According to information from the Environmental Protection Agency presented at the school board meeting, every kilowatt-hour of electricity that was not used prevents the emission at power-producing stations of 1.5 pounds of carbon dioxide, 5.8 grams of sulfur dioxide, and 2.5 grams nitrogen oxides.
Figures provided by Mr. Fritz indicated that the district’s reduction of kilowatt hours prevented more than 2 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions from being produced, which would be the equivalent of removing 191 automobiles from the highways in that nine-month period.
The program was developed by Energy Education Inc., which the school district has been working with since early 2006.* According to the company’s Web site, Energy Education “develops and implements customized energy conservation programs that enable education institutions and large churches to preserve energy dollars for educational opportunities and resources.”
Great idea. Because schools require a large number of people to be housed under one roof, the amount of energy that each building requires is particularly high. Any program that can successful reduce the amount of energy used in a school without a detriment to the education of the students is extremely commendable and definitely should be looked into by the local school board.
Congratulations to Energy Education Inc. for developing such a program, and kudos to the Athens Area School Board for recognizing its value.
By participating in the program, the district has reaped multiple benefits of saving energy, which in turn saves tax dollars, and also helps to save precious environmental resources both now and in the future. Such things will remain of vital importance for students, the community and the rest of the world for many generations to come.
*date edited for accuracy |
Posted on Thursday, April 12, 2007 (Archive on Wednesday, July 11, 2007)
Posted by jnoelsmith Contributed by
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