The District looked into sustainability and energy efficiency at the end of the 2016 calendar year. Each building was observed to see what could be done to improve energy star ratings and overall energy usage. District Coordinator of Operational Excellence, Nathan Rohyans, focused on Dublin Jerome High School in particular, due to their low energy star rating.

“The District brought in a few vendors to help show how we are using our energy,” said Rohyans. “We took a deep look into Jerome’s behavioral tactics to see what areas we could improve in and found several opportunities.”

Rohyans helped staff members at Jerome keep lights and other equipment off during non-peak hours. Window sealings were also applied to help regulate the temperature inside the building. The HVAC at Jerome was also tested to help it perform at optimal levels. These behavioral and equipment changes helped Jerome increase from a 55 energy star rating to a 75.

Rohyans also tested settings of HVACs at other buildings and provided staff members with tips to cut down on energy usage in their buildings. These small changes led the other 18 schools to increase their energy star ratings as well.

“These increases in energy star ratings is a major positive for the District,” said Rohyans. “The savings in energy usage allowed us to save over $60,000 in cost avoidance since January. The cost avoidance came from the decrease of electricity used compared to last year, over 600,000 kWh.”

As many of our buildings approach 30 years, equipment will need to be replaced. These cost savings can not only be used to improve our equipment, but can be directed into other energy efficiency projects in the future, such as LED lighting, solar roof panels and more.