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Pittsburg Post-Gazette .. front page above the fold
July 29, 2008

Schools putting energy saving into syllabus

Squeezed: One in an occasional series on the pinch of a souring economy and rising prices

By Anya Sostek, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Under cover of night, Chris Reiser fumbles around in the darkness of South Butler Primary School.


Guided only by the light from his cell phone, his role is part detective, part moth: He's searching for light slivers and listening for the whir of an air conditioner or any other evidence that the school district is wasting energy during off hours.


In the current landscape of skyrocketing electricity, coal and natural gas prices, a few local districts are saving money through aggressive energy management programs that guarantee cost savings.


The South Butler County School District signed up for such a program in May and is expecting to save $1.66 million over the next 10 years by cutting energy use about 25 percent. It is guaranteed a net savings of at least $44,000 this year alone.


The changes could be considered common sense, except that in umpteen years of running a school district, nobody there had thought of them.


"This focuses on the culture within the building," said Todd O'Shell, administrative assistant for the district. "It's the little things that add up over a time period."


It might be obvious to think about turning off the lights, for example, but it takes an expert to analyze pressure settings, ventilation rates, circulation pumps and scores of other aspects of school energy use.


Mr. Reiser, the district's energy manager and director of buildings and grounds, points to a 300-gallon water heater capable of heating water to 140 degrees to sterilize cafeteria equipment. During the summer, however, there's no food preparation and no need to use that much energy heating the water; a thermometer above the tank reads 84 degrees.


South Butler is one of four districts in Western Pennsylvania that has contracted with Energy Education Inc., a Dallas-based company that has analyzed school district energy use for 22 years.


The company doesn't ask districts to buy new energy-saving appliances. Rather, it employs experts to analyze 1,200 different points where the districts could save energy. Most of the savings occurs during off hours, to minimize the impact on students.


"We look at absolutely everything in the district that uses energy," said Jan Noel-Smith, director of public relations. "They can't control the cost for a unit of energy, but they can control how much energy they use."


The company charges a fee for its services but guarantees that districts will save enough in energy costs to pay the fee with no additional outlay.


Armstrong School District contracted with Energy Education almost four years ago. In that time, it has saved $915,958 in energy costs -- equal to a 19 percent reduction in natural gas and electricity usage.


Or as energy manager Bill Smeltz, who recently retired as a chemistry teacher, puts it, "that's 531 cars being removed from the road, or over 7,600 trees that would have been planted."


The district now shuts computers down automatically at 4:30 p.m., turns on the heating/ventilation/air conditioning system later in the day and has gym teachers turn on the lights in the gym before class starts, rather than having the custodian do it first thing in the morning.


Mr. Smeltz also does walk-throughs of at least 10 buildings per week at all hours, letting teachers and staff know when they've left a light on or otherwise wasted energy.


"They call me the energy guy, the energy czar, the energy Nazi," he said. "If I leave the lights on in my classroom, boy, do I hear about it."


By double checking the district's energy bills, Mr. Smeltz uncovered a $30,000 billing error for gas usage this past year. He's also been pleasantly surprised by the extent to which custodians and other staff have bought into the program, with friendly competitions developing between schools for who can save the most energy.


"I've had custodians who say they've gotten so used to turning things off and they now do it at home," said Mr. Smeltz. "Their wives holler, 'Why'd you turn the light off?'"


Mt. Lebanon School District also uses an energy management program, and Seneca Valley School District is starting one.


In South Butler, Mr. Reiser is still implementing changes, like rewiring the electric breakers to make it possible to turn off accent lights located directly under skylights. When school starts, the district will reanalyze to see what changes make sense with school in session.


"We're not going to turn the heat down to 68 so kids have to wear their coats in the classroom, but we're also not going to turn the heat up to 78 just for personal preference," said Mr. O'Shell.


South Butler officials also hope to use energy management as an opportunity to teach students about conservation.


"There's a focus on every person being that energy saver," said Mr. O'Shell. "We're changing the culture of how we utilize energy."