Green Schools Results Boost Energy Saving Goals in DC Public Schools

April 20, 2010 – On April 19, the DC Council unanimously voted to preliminarily approve healthy practices in the District of Columbia Public School System (DCPSS) – among them, saving energy. The final vote is scheduled for Tuesday May, 4, 2010.

Sponsored by Councilmember Mary Cheh, the "DC Healthy Schools Act" would require better school-lunch nutrition, establish farm-to-school and school garden programs, encourage more physical activity and tackle a range of environmental problems, including energy consumption.

Increasing the Efficiency Target

The bill proposes energy reduction targets of 20 percent by August 1, 2015, which is twice what was originally proposed when Councilmember Cheh first introduced the bill back in December, 2009.

While debating the bill's measures, the DC Council heard from a number of experts. One of these was Alliance Executive Vice President Brian Castelli, who in his testimony requested that the Council reconsider the 10 percent target and instead consider a 20 percent reduction, stating that at least 25 percent of energy used in schools is wasted energy and noting that the Alliance's Green Schools program has been able to achieve 10 percent energy savings in some schools.

Following Castelli's testimony on the legislation, the bill's targets increased to a new goal: to "analyze utility usage at each public school and develop a plan to reduce that amount by 20 percent on or before August 1, 2015."

Speaking from Experience

Since 2008, the Alliance has helped schools reduce their energy use through the Saving Energy in DC Schools program. In those two years, the program has uncovered some important issues regarding school energy use in DCPSS and beyond, including:

• The cost of energy: Throughout 2009 (Jan to Dec), McKinley Technology High School spent an average of $46,017.48 per month on electricity alone. This equates to over half a million dollars in one year.
• Energy waste: Alice Deal Junior High students used their light meters during a Student Energy Auditor Training to test light-levels in their newly renovated classrooms. They discovered light levels in the brand-new, renovated classrooms were as much as three times higher than code (for appropriate light levels) with inadequate switches to control the light.
• Proven savings: Green Schools in Southern California reported energy savings of over 7.9 million kilowatt hours among the 117 schools involved in the program over the last three years. This amount of savings is equivalent to avoiding emission of nearly two tons of CO2 into the environment and $1.3 million in energy costs.

Pending final vote May 4, 2010, the DC Healthy Schools Act will come into effect in August 2010. DC public schools will be well positioned to realize the benefits of school-wide energy-saving efforts. And though the Alliance believes that District schools could achieve even more savings through a focused energy efficiency campaign, we're pleased to see that the bill's targets are aiming high.