Congratulations to Pattonville School District for achieving ENERGY STAR certification on four of their school buildings. Pattonville High School, Heights Middle School, Parkwood Elementary, and Rose Acres Elementary all received recognition for superior energy performance.
Just as with appliances, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awards ENERGY STAR certification to buildings that are energy efficient (www.energystar.gov). The EPA has 21 building categories that can be used to rate how energy efficient a building is compared to all the other buildings of that type across the United States.
A score of 50 is typical for most buildings and means that the building is only average in energy efficiency. A score of 25 means that the building is not very energy efficient and only better than 25% of all building of the same type nationwide. Certification is based on weather-normalized source energy use that considers occupancy, hours of operation, and other key metrics. A building must receive a score of 75 or better to be ENERGY STAR certified.
In this case, Pattonville High School achieved a score of 79 and Heights Middle School achieved a score of 75, which is excellent. But both Parkwood Elementary and Rose Acres achieved the outstanding score of 91. This means they are more energy efficient than 91% of other school facilities of the same type.
“We’re honored to earn the ENERGY STAR for superior energy performance at these sites and appreciate the efforts of everyone who has been involved in its efficient operations,” —Ron Orr, Chief Financial Officer, Pattonville School District
Pattonville School District partnered with Navitas to help them achieve their energy conservation goals. Their energy efficiency efforts included:
- Working with an ESCO, an energy service company, to help manage and improve energy performance.
- Installing energy-efficient lighting systems and controls that improve light quality and reduce heat gain.
- Upgrading heating and cooling equipment to more energy efficient units.
- Using an energy performance contract to guarantee energy savings from upgrades.
- Performing monthly maintenance of heating and cooling equipment to guarantee efficient operation throughout the year.
- Measuring and tracking energy performance.
- Educating students and staff about how their behaviors affect energy use.
- Turning off lights when not in use or when natural daylight can be used.
- Setting back the thermostat in the evening and other times when the building is unoccupied.
By being more energy efficient, a school district can not only save money, they can also reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and improve the student’s learning environment.