Schools

School District Cuts Utility Bill by $2 Million

CUSD 200 reports how it reduced energy use by 26 percent in the past 25 months.

Thanks to its Energy Education Program, Community Unit School District 200 reports that it has cut its energy bills and reduced energy consumption, a savings the equivalent of removing 2,22o passenger cars from the road for a year or the planting of 316,298 trees.

Lead by Colin Wilkie, the district's energy operations manager, the Energy Education Program incorporated formal energy education and cost-savings programs that resulted in saving more than $2 million in energy costs as of earlier this month, including more than 26 percent reduction in energy use in the past 25 months.

"CUSD 200 is proud to report that each of our buildings has an Energy Star rating," the district said in a statement.

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The national energy performance rating is a type of external benchmark that helps energy managers assess how efficiently their buildings use energy relative to similar buildings nationwide. The rating system’s 1–100 scale allows everyone to quickly understand how a building is performing. A rating of 50 indicates average energy performance, while a rating of 75 or better indicates top performance, according to the press release.

"All CUSD 200 buildings have received a rating above 75 for 2010," the district's statement said. "We anticipate that each school will receive an Energy Star rating for 2011 as well. Only the top 25 percent of all schools in the nation have received an Energy Star rating. In fact, our district is so successful in our energy savings that we have qualified for the Energy Star Leadership program. Only 10 percent of all schools nationwide have achieved Energy Star Leadership Program status."

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Wilkie added, “The long-term impact on our environment is based on what we can accomplish now. Over the last 25 months, our district has become a leader in making a significant contribution towards a ‘greener’ future for everyone.”

As a way to engage students in energy education, Hubble Middle School will host an Eco-Fair April 28 for students and the community that builds on their full year of instructional activities on environmental topics such as vermicomposting - the use of earthworms to turn organic wastes into high quality compost - community gardens, solar energy, water conservation, alternative heating and cooling systems, and more.

Monroe Middle School, led by teacher Preston Boyd, is participating in a new nationwide recycling program called the Dream Machine Recycle Rally this school  year. To help the Dream Machine Recycle Rally program reach its goal of collecting 22 million pounds of recycled material by June, the administration of Monroe has asked all students to bring as many empty beverage containers (plastic bottles and aluminum cans) as possible to school. The school earns points redeemable for rewards with local businesses such as sporting goods stores, educational events, music, books and videos. The more students recycle, the more rewards the school can earn.

In addition to the local rewards, by participating in this program, Monroe is also entered to win funding to support green facility improvements such as installing solar panels, planting trees, adding plants and flowers, and possibly building a greenhouse. So far, Monroe students have collected more than 20,000 recyclable products.


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