Small school expenditure might reap a big savings in energy

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Thursday, May 20, 2004 | 9:23 a.m.

The School Board on Wednesday approved spending $560,710 to expand the Clark County School District's energy conservation program.

The money to pay for 11 new positions in the energy conservation program may be one of the smaller allocations in the $1.62 billion operating budget, but it could yield some of the largest dividends.

The district's conservation efforts saved $3 million last year and the additional staff could increase the savings to $7 million by next year, said Dale Scott, energy manager for the district.

The district currently has one conservation inspector responsible for 289 schools, Scott said.

The inspector's job includes visiting schools and facilities in the middle of the night to make sure computerized shut-off systems are working and that people haven't left lights or other utilities turned on, Scott said.

With the newly allocated funds, the number of inspectors would climb to five -- one for each of the district's regions, Scott said.

"I've gone by schools on the weekends and found every light burning, the air-conditioners going even though the computer tells us everything is turned off," Scott said. "No system is perfect -- with the savings from the spot-checks alone the new inspectors are going to more than pay for themselves."

Other additional positions approved Wednesday include schedulers to handle requests from principals to re-set computerized air, heating and lighting systems. It's not unusual for the conservation office to receive as many as 60 requests a day for changes, Scott said.

"There are holidays, staff development, a special event after school hours and they need the air turned on," Scott said.

The utilities for nearly all of the district's schools are hooked up to one of nine different operating systems -- added along the way as new schools have opened. That makes change requests a more complicated process, Scott said. The long-term goal is to consolidate the systems so that only one or two are needed for the entire district, Scott said.

Arnold Lopez, manager of energy efficiency and energy education programs for Nevada Power, praised the school district's "proactive approach" to conservation.

A graduate of Rancho High School with six children ranging from kindergarten- to college-age, Lopez said he's pleased to see the district expanding its conservation program from the operations side to the classroom curriculum.

"Anytime the schools are saving money and teaching kids at the same time, that's good news," Lopez said.

The cost of energy is highest from June to September between the hours of 1 and 7 p.m., Lopez said.

By requiring schools not in session to shut down during July -- and operate 4 a.m. to noon schedules for staff office work during the rest of the summer -- the district is helping Nevada Power's bottom line as well as its own, Lopez said.