Schools Energy Program Saves Thousands

It was a report that gained nothing but praise from members—the news that the school district has saved almost $300,000 in energy costs for the past two years, less the annual $35,000 cost to run the program.

The Schools for Energy Efficiency program was phased in over the past two years, starting with training for staff and then involving students this past year, said Board Member William Koch, who had presented the report on Monday.

According to School Business Administrator Nick Markarian, the program involves students by asking them to turn off lights, computer monitors and other equipment when not needed in order to save on energy costs. The SEE program is being conducted at all schools, he said.

Those simple steps have saved the school district about $100,000 in energy costs the first year, and about $190,000 this year, Koch said later in the week.

The $35,000 fee paid to the private organization includes training, some materials and continuing monitoring of the amount saved through the energy-savings efforts by the students and staff, Koch explained.

On Monday, Board Member Michael Byrne praised the program, saying he wished he had thought of it himself.

But Koch later said that although the board wants to continue the program, the board's facilities committee will look at options for how it might be implemented in future years. The facilities committee then will bring its recommendation to the entire school board, he said.

"We don't want to give up the program," Koch said. But he added that the school district might want to look at whether it might cost less to hire someone to perform data entry to monitor savings and whether the district might take on responsibility for running the program.

"Let's just look at what we have and make it more efficient," he said. He said the school district had examined its options for an energy-savings initiative prior to signing on for the SEE program.

Other schools in the area also have been using the program, school officials. The Somerset Hills School District, which on Monday learned that partially credited the SEE program for the school's success.

Koch said that some parents have been saying that students have been bringing home the energy-saving tips they have learned in school.

"Instilling wise energy habits in students creates lifelong conservationists and teaches them to care about the impact of their actions," according to the website for the SEE program.