Downers Grove Sun Suburban Chicago News By Eva McKendrick staff writer  Staff members in one local school district have been careful to turn off the lights when they leave the room, shut down their computers and dial down the thermostat. "You can do all these little things that really add up," Community High School District 99 Superintendent David Eblen said. And over four years, all the little things added up to a total $1.2 million. The School District has been so good about saving energy that it earned a national recognition: the Energy Excellence Award from Energy Education Inc. On Nov. 20, the district was presented with the award for saving $1,225,234. Energy costs had been forecasted at $6.7 million in the past four years. But with the energy saving program implemented by District 99, there was a 19 percent reduction. "We're always trying to get dollars to the kids, not to heat and lights," Eblen said. District 99 even enlisted an energy educator to help the transition to good energy habits. Science teacher Lisa MacArtney took on the part-time job four years ago. She worked with Energy Education Inc. to analyze energy data, train and educate staff about energy reduction and identify energy conservation opportunities throughout the building. "People have this 'set it and forget it' mentality," MacArtney said. "With the Energy Education company, we looked at the mechanical systems to find out if they were operating in the most efficient way." MacArtney takes about 15 to 20 hours from her week to walk through parts of the building to make sure staff and faculty are implementing the energy-saving strategies. The most recent efforts of the district are the installation of vinyl covers over the pools to reduce heat loss and evaporation for even greater savings. "We're always keeping our ears and eyes open for things we can do," Eblen said. For example, school officials are looking into how to limit their use of air conditioning in the summer. Energy Education Inc. is a private company that has worked with schools throughout the country. They use sophisticated computer software to monitor energy in the school. Not only can the program find areas that need to be improved on, it tracks how much energy was used on any given day compared to other years. Initially, District 99 paid for the services, staff training and the computer software, but Mark Staehlin, district controller, said they can continue to use Energy Education Inc. for consulting and training without any further costs. "We're delighted with the program," Staehlin said. "It helped us organize our energy efforts as a district." Since the program started four years ago, District 99 has set board policies for energy management, including standards for heating and cooling.