Energy Conservation at District 99
Energy conservation and environmental awareness at District 99 are two of our top priorities. Both are important not only to the future of our students, but also to being fiscally responsible to our taxpayers.
As a sign of our commitment to energy management, in 2002 District 99 established an energy management program and the position of “energy education specialist.” In addition to teaching biology,
South High School Science Teacher Lisa MacArtney is charged with leading our organization to find new and creative ways to conserve energy. From developing awareness programs for staff and students to writing grants to secure additional funding from private sources, our energy management program efforts have helped
the district to save $2.1 million since April 2008.
From April of 2008 to November of 2012, we paid 23% less for energy.
After meeting stringent performance rating requirements, District 99 received the Energy Star designation in 2011. The Energy Star program is sponsored by both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. We have also partnered with GreenQuest in an effort to heighten awareness and encourage everyone—staff, students and community members--to become more energy efficient.
Below you will learn about the energy efficient practices we have adopted and other efforts we have made to improve the efficiency of our facilities. Each month we receive a “report card,” which reveals our success and areas for improvement to help us stay on track.
Energy Efficient Practices
Faculty, staff and students are all involved in the effort to conserve energy at District 99. The most important way we have reduced our energy usage is by changing our behavior. Saving energy has become second nature for all of us at District 99 by:
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Switching off the lights when classrooms, offices and restrooms are not in use;
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Powering off computers, unplugging appliances, and closing windows and doors before long weekends and holidays;
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Recycling paper and plastic in one of the 400+ bins throughout our three facilities;
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Consolidating the use of small appliances, such as coffee pots, microwaves, refrigerators; and
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Using "green," environmentally-friendly cleaning supplies.
Energy Efficient Facilities
Over the years, District 99 has enacted fundamental changes to our environments in order to better align our buildings to our conservation efforts. Highlights of our initiatives include:
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Switching from T12 flourescent light bulbs/ballasts to T8 light bulbs in classrooms and offices;
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Installing covers on swimming pools at both schools, which reduced the heating costs by 28 percent— saving $19,000 per pool, per year in heating costs. It also reduced each pool’s annual water consumption by 38 percent (or 108,500 gallons per pool);
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Removing or disabling lights on vending machines;
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Regularly reviewing energy conservation options with architects and electrical engineers, which may soon result in retrofitting lights in our gymnasiums and parking lots to take advantage of more energy efficient options;
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Evaluating and installing new HVAC and electrical equipment for energy efficiency and sustainable functionality and operation. In fact, only energy service companies (ESCO’s) were permitted to bid on our HVAC capital improvement projects. ESCO’s are capable of auditing our buildings to identify energy conservation measures within the scope of work, and offer guaranteed savings through performance contracts.
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Calculating a total return on investment by analyzing the cost of upgrades to the total payback savings over time.
Tracking Savings – Our “Report Card”
We monitor our performance each month through our energy conservation “report card.” We view the amount we would expect to spend on energy without an energy management program, and compare it to our actual energy costs. We’re also able to see what our cumulative greenhouse gas reduction has been by studying these reports:
Current Initiatives
We have had the following successes and continue to actively pursue grant opportunities:
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The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation (ICEF) was established in December 1999 as an independent foundation with a $225 million endowment provided by Commonwealth Edison. The Foundation exists to improve energy efficiency, advance the development of renewable energy resources and protect natural areas for people in communities all across Illinois. We were awarded $80,000 to complete a standard lighting retrofit from T12 to T8 fluorescents (bulbs and ballasts). That work was completed using in-house labor which saved us even more.
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We submitted an application for a $250,000 School Energy Efficiency Project Grant from the Illinois State Board of Education in January. That application is pending approval. That money would help to offset the cost of heating and cooling plant renovations.
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We are investigating the possibility of upgrading the lighting in the remaining areas of the buildings that were not covered by the ICEF Grant. There is grant money available from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s Public Sector Electric Efficiency Program.
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We monitor the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency regularly for grant opportunities.
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Our involvement with Energy Education, Inc. provides timely notice of grant opportunities from both the public and private sectors as they become available.
More About Energy Star
Energy Star helps us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices. It is a partnership in which we agree to:
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Measure and track the energy performance of our facilities;
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Develop and implement a plan to achieve energy savings;
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Help spread the word about the importance of energy efficiency;
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Support the ENERGY STAR challenge to improve energy efficiency in our buildings by 10% or more; and
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Highlight our achievements with recognition offered through ENERGY STAR. That recognition acknowledges us as good stewards of our resources, finances and environment.
Energy Star has an innovative energy performance rating system that’s used to recognize top performing buildings. We use that rating system to verify the results we get from our own tracking using Energy CAP software.