Update 7/8/13: Estimate of $330K savings for FY10 was too low - actual savings was closer to $480K
Created 9/8/10 -Scroll down for full news release.
In September 2008 IntraGroups Founder Michel Rainger completed a 100 hour volunteer community project for Fauquier County Schools and Government. Findings included: Electrical grid-based expenses of $4M per fiscal year with ratio of County to Schools 20 / 80% and minimal finite energy conservation programs in place. Recommendations on potential savings presented to key players from October 2008 - June 2009. School administration formed a committee in the spring of 2009 and began to implement many of the suggestions made by Mr. Rainger during FY10 which resulted in the savings noted below. Note: School electricity usage increased 8% during FY09.
Through team work and more involvement of school prinicipals, faculty, students and parents it is conceivable that another 10-15% KwH savings can be realised during this school year (FY11). Above comments respectfully made by Michael Rainger Founder: Energized Fauquier - Additional feedback welcome to this Entity via E-Com (to Michael) or call Warren - Community project hours now up to almost 700 as of 12/31/2010. Energy conservation now a part of the Strategic Planning process with many items scheduled for implementation in FY11 - Aspirations 2015 - News release below
Fauquier County Public Schools
News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 8, 2010
Karen Parkinson, Coordinator of Information
Phone (540) 422-7031
FCPS REALIZES SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN ENERGY CONSUMPTION
Low-cost and no-cost energy management measures undertaken in the past year have enabled Fauquier County Public Schools to achieve a 10 percent reduction in energy consumption per square foot. The school division’s total annual energy cost of $3.3 million in Fiscal Year 2009 dropped to $2.9 million in Fiscal Year 2010 as the total energy consumption fell from 148,923 to 134,125 million BTU.
“This means our ‘carbon footprint’ [the direct effect of the school division’s actions on the environment in terms of carbon dioxide emissions] went down by 10 percent,” said Warren Darrell, FCPS director of construction who oversees the school division’s energy management program. “This is significant.”
Mr. Darrell joined Greg Livesay, FCPS director of facilities, in vigorously pursuing improved energy management in every school facility over the past year. They coordinated a number of energy management measures which collectively contributed to the significant savings. These measures varied from the simple – installing “Please Turn Off the Lights” decals on nearly every light switch throughout the school division – to the complex – arranging for lower-cost electricity procurement from suppliers. Men on a mission, Mr. Darrell and Mr. Livesay met with each site administrator to plan ways to manage energy, distributed monthly energy reports to school principals, and worked with County operations personnel to design and implement energy efficiency measures. They de-energized vending machine lighting in all schools, adjusted thermostats in mechanical equipment rooms, and replaced burned-out incandescent lamps with compact fluorescent lamps. They improved procedures for notifying operations personnel of occupied times for heating and cooling operations. They installed programmable thermostats in several modular buildings, electronic time clock controls in several schools, and automatic controls on some street and parking lot lighting.
“Our current energy benchmarks indicate that our schools now operate more efficiently than in the past and more efficiently than other public K-12 schools in our climate region,” said Mr. Darrell.
The school division’s energy efforts have not slowed as the new school year begins. FCPS has arranged for lower-cost electricity procurement which will reduce costs by about $130,000 per year, Mr. Darrell said. Already this year, the Information Technology Department has reduced the number of server computers from 45 to 15 and replaced 330 desktop computers with laptops; the department plans to replace approximately 20 inefficient monitors with energy-efficient monitors.
“We will be installing programmable thermostats in more of our auxiliary buildings, like our sports concession buildings,” said Mr. Livesay. Door seals will be replaced, he added.
Other plans – such as installing additional energy efficiency controls and upgrading efficiency of lighting at more schools – hinge on the availability of funds in the coming year.
Also, the planned new wing of Fauquier High School will be exceptionally energy efficient. FCPS intends that the FHS renovation attain a gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating by the U.S. Green Building Council.
In the meantime the school division will continue to conserve energy wherever it can without compromising productivity and educational quality.
“While it’s always important to reduce unnecessary costs, the budget crunch makes it even more important,” said Dr. Jonathan Lewis, division superintendent. “By reducing energy consumption, we help protect our environment and set a positive example for our students.” | 
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