Penny saved is a penny earned

Thursday, Oct. 13, 2005 | 7:22 a.m.

By turning off lights, powering down computers and not fiddling with thermostats, Clark County's schools saved $6.1 million in energy costs for the 2004-05 fiscal year, district officials said Wednesday.

That's a jump of $2.25 million in savings over the last fiscal year.

Dale Scott, energy conservation manager for the district, said the improvement is due in part to his office expanding his roster of inspectors from one to five.

"We told our bosses if they let us hire the extra guys we would guarantee them a savings of $7 million by the 2005-06 fiscal year," Scott said. "We're right on track to meet that goal."

The inspectors visit schools overnight and in the early morning hours, looking for signs of wasteful consumption. After completing a checklist, which includes noting thermostat settings and visiting individual classrooms, the inspector leaves a report card for the staff.

Some principals are taking the program "very seriously" and use the report cards to motivate students and staff, Scott said.

"I wish all the principals were like that but more and more are getting on board all the time," Scott said.

Now in its fourth year, the district's conservation program hands out rebate checks to campuses that cut their power bills by at least 10 percent over the prior fiscal year. This year's checks, ranging from $250 to $5,000, totaled $318,500.

Of the 212 schools that met the minimum 10 percent requirement, Goldfarb Elementary School's usage reduction was the steepest at 39.9 percent. The Summerlin school will receive $1,000 to use for educational supplies.

Palo Verde High School led the district's secondary school campuses at 27.7 percent and will receive $5,000. Two other high schools, Las Vegas and Desert Pines, will also receive $5,000 checks for reducing energy use by 19.4 and 27.7 percent, respectively. (Although the high schools' reductions were less than Goldfarb's, their checks were bigger because the rebates were based not only on the energy cutbacks, but also the schools' enrollment.)

David Pearce, assistant principal for facilities at Palo Verde, credited the students, faculty and staff with the campus' reduced energy usage.

"We've been successful because our school community has been willing to buy into the plan," Pearce said.

The school's parking lot lights are now on timers and the staff turns off air conditioning in areas of the building that are not in use.

In addition to rebate checks going to individual schools, each of the district's five regions will receive $10,000 for having at least 80 percent of their campuses meet the 10 percent reduction benchmark.

Along with its power bill, the district saved $1 million in natural gas costs and $400,000 in water costs for the 2004-05 fiscal year. The district hopes to reduce its water usage even further by installing synthetic turf for athletic fields and using little or no grass in landscaping.

Emily Richmond covers education for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-8829 or emily@lasvegassun.com.