Thirteen Howard County schools used energy-efficient measures, including boiler upgrades, to save $578,000 in energy costs since June 2005.
“It?s not cash sitting in our hands that we can use in other areas like books,” said Douglas Pindell, the school system?s purchasing officer.
“It?s a cost avoidance ? money we don?t have to spend on these particular schools.”
In 2005, Pepco Energy Services, an Arlington, Va.-based energy product and service provider, contracted with the school system to:
» Evaluate the energy performance of the buildings.
» Determine potential energy savings by replacing or upgrading heating, venting and air conditioning equipment, water heaters, lighting, and other building components such as insulation and windows, said school system spokeswoman Patti Caplan.
Pepco began with Hammond High, Patuxent Valley Middle and Phelps Luck Elementary schools, where the savings amounted to about $182,000, Pindell said.
Ten more schools were phased in for an additional savings of $396,000. These schools were Atholton, Centennial, Oakland Mills and River Hill high schools; Burleigh Manor, Dunloggin, Wilde Lake and Patapsco middle schools; and Hammond middle-elementary and Thunder Hill elementary schools.
The cost so far for evaluating and making the green changes is about $7.8 million and has been financed over 15 years, said Ken Roey, executive director of facilities planning and management.
“The engineering is advancing,” said Pindell.
“The energy efficiency of the equipment we?re putting up today is much greater than it was in the past.”
Insulation nowadays retains heat better than the type used in older buildings, he said.
The targeted schools are mainly buildings that are more than 20 years.
Each year, the school system spends around $13 million to $14 million on gas and electricity for its facilities, Roey said.
A third phase is upcoming and will include more schools yet to be determined, Pindell said.
