The Sewanhaka Central High School District has contracted Dallas, Tex., -based energy conservation company Cenergistic to help the district determine how to conserve energy in times when the district’s buildings aren’t in use, according to a news release.
Cenergistic energy specialist Stan Johnsen, who has met with the Board of Education, administrators, faculty and custodial staff, said that a successful energy conservation requires behavioral changes in those who occupy the buildings.
“I’ve had great cooperation from the head custodians, which is key because they oversee the day and evening staff,” Johnsen said. “The evening custodial staff in each building are probably the biggest savers of energy because they turn things off.”
According to Superintendent of Schools Ralph Ferrie, the district plans to use the savings to benefit student programs in the district.
In September, the district approved Noresco LLC to conduct an energy audit as a possible prelude to awarding an energy performance contract to the firm.
Ferrie said in September that he estimated that an energy performance contract could reduce the expense of projects to be funded by an approved $86.6 million bond proposal by as much as $10 million.
Johnsen said he does weekly walkthroughs of each of the district’s buildings, during various times of the day and night to ensure energy use practices by making sure computer, monitors, copiers, and any other equipment is shut down, according to the release.
“If I find something left on, I’ll tag it to let the person who uses it know it should be turned off at the end of the day,” Johnsen said.
Johnsen then creates a report for administrators in each building, giving them the chance to look into the problems quickly.
“People are really changing,” Johnsen said. “When I started I would find 120-130 computers left on in one day, now maybe I’ll find 20-30, some with varying reasons of why it was necessary to keep them on.”
