Schools target savings through energy control

What’s good for the environment sometime isn’t good for the bottom line, but Springfield-area schools are realizing the two schools of thought can work in tandem.

Springfield Public Schools shelled out $4.7 million to cover energy costs during 2012 and Missouri State University paid more than $6 million, but due to increased conservation efforts utility bills are on the decline.

“Building heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems are some of MSU’s energy hogs,” said Pilar Karlen, MSU energy manager, of the higher learning facility’s summer building consolidation program.  “The university has saved $29,836 in energy during the month of June compared to the June 2012 baseline. This is a reduction of 301 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.”

Part of the Scheduling Space for Energy Efficiency program, which began in December 2012, the summer class consolidation initiative calls for four buildings to be vacant during evening hours and weekends. The school predicted a 15 percent drop in electricity per building compared to the prior year.

To aid the effect, University Facilities Analyst Krista Bassen, Scheduling Coordinator Shelley Netzer and Karlen began meeting on a regular basis to improve the interaction between space scheduling, building use and energy management.

“Our goal as a team is to use the university’s spaces and resources in the most effective way,” Karlen said. “We are still on the first phase of the project and we have seen successful results, with a reduction of 7 percent in energy consumption during the month of June.”

Thanks to the efforts of the Energy Management Department, despite increase of facility space, Karlen said energy utilization per square foot at MSU has been reduced by 55 percent since 1994.

With 75 percent of utility costs from electricity, Karlen said the university has a building automation system that controls air handlers assigned to rooms and buildings and aims to maintain a constant set point temperature – 72 degrees in occupied mode, 80 degrees for cooling and 65 degrees for heating in unoccupied mode.

Seeking to decrease its own energy consumption by 10 to 15 percent, Springfield Public Schools is the first district in the state to take part in the Environmental Defense Fund Climate Corps.

A summer fellowship program that places specially trained master’s degree students with select organizations to identify energy-saving opportunities, SPS has taken on University of California–Berkley fellow Leo Covis for 10 weeks thanks to a $15,000 sponsorship from school vendor Staples Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLS).

“We have been good stewards of our resources, but we wanted to look at the money we spend and what we control – energy costs -– and get that money back down to the classroom level,” said David Bishop, SPS director of facilities.

“Energy usage is a fixed cost that we could modify with very little pain.”

Bishop said the 54-building district retrofitted its lighting to the tune of $4.5 million, with a seven year payback period, but realized those saving in just more than four years.

“Lighting is the low-hanging fruit of the energy savings arena, but once we realized those savings, we were net positive from that point on,” he said.

“We did an offset of energy costs from that payback period forward. As we added air conditioning to some of our buildings we really didn’t see a huge increase in the energy bill because of that foresight.”

Armed with an energy saving checklist of do’s and dont’s developed by EDF, Bishop said fellow Covis will inspect each SPS building during his tenure and complete an energy audit report for the district.

“Recommendations will include things such as phantom load from freezers and coolers not in use during the summer,” he said, noting phantom load is energy used by electrical appliances when switched off. “I don’t think the audit will hold any surprises for us; we know what’s going on in our buildings.

“I was interested in the process because after its completion, we become part of the EDF database. We gain access to the research by all other EDF fellows and we can compare, data mine and set a benchmark for how we stack up against other schools our size.”

Bishop said the district’s goal isn’t necessarily to conform to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards, but determine an overall district energy goal, a task neighboring school district Ozark R-6 has been working on for six years.

“In 2007, we installed the EMP computerized temperature control system in five buildings for about $1 million,” said Kevin Patterson, superintendent of schools for the Christian County district. “The system had a five-year payback period, which we have passed, and saves the district about $200,000 a year in utility costs.”

Patterson said building systems, including HVAC, freezers, coolers and lighting, are monitored 24/7 by Fulton-based EPM Inc. for the life of the system.

“In the past, Ozark had issues with its HVAC units, and one of our biggest problems was that the units were different at each building depending on when it was built,” he said.

“EPM not only monitors the units for malfunctions, but the system institutes climate and lighting controls when buildings are unoccupied.”

In place in only five of the district’s seven buildings, Patterson said installation of the EPM systems is part of the district’s long-range plan with combined installation costs of about $400,000.

While the district’s original motive for installing the system was financial, Patterson said the environmental benefits are a bonus.

“East Elementary qualified as an Energy Star building, and I believe if we did the research, the other four would as well,” he said.

“EPM allows us to be good stewards of the taxpayer’s dollar and decrease the district’s carbon footprint at the same time.”