The document provides an overview of energy management for school districts. It discusses making the case for energy efficiency by outlining signs of energy waste in schools and potential savings from effective management. It also covers understanding energy bills, renewable technologies, funding opportunities, and developing an energy management plan. The key points are identifying low-cost opportunities to reduce costs, benchmarking to compare performance, and leveraging various funding sources like NYSERDA and utility programs.

1. Alwyn A. John
Energy Management Coordinator
TST BOCES

2. Agenda
 Making the case for energy efficiency
 Understanding your district’s energy bills
 Renewable energy and alternative
technologies
 Understanding funding opportunities
 Identifying low cost/no cost opportunities
to reduce cost
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3. 1
Making the case for energy
efficiency
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4. Why is Energy Management
Important?
“Good Energy Management is Good Business”
The evidence is clear that for both public and private k12
schools, adopting an energy management strategy is a
business decision you cannot afford to ignore.
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5. Signs of Energy Waste in
Commercial Buildings
 A 400% variation in energy use intensity of buildings in the United
States exists that is not explained by age, technology, hours, size,
climate.
 Little improvement of overall energy consumption has been seen
although building components are 30% more efficient since 1980.
 Over-sizing of building fan systems, on average, occurs by 60%.
 Most chillers are oversized by 50–200%.
• - EPA
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6. Signs of Energy Waste in K12
Buildings
 EPA/Energy Star Statistics:
 The annual energy bill to run America’s primary and secondary
schools a staggering $6 Billion. $1 out of every $4 spent on energy by
US schools is wasted. Conservative 25% = $1.5 Billion annually.
 Energy cost total between 1.5% to 3.5% of a typical school district’s
annual budget. Energy is often second only to staff salaries – more
than computers and textbooks combined.
 The least efficient schools use three times (3x) more energy than
the best energy performers
 Top performing ENERGY STAR labeled schools cost forty cents per
square foot less to operate than the average performers.
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7. Strong Energy Management
= Real Savings
 Ford Motor Company has saved over $75 million through effective
energy management.
 Eastman Kodak saved more than $8.6 million in operating costs in
2002 from its energy management efforts.
 Fairfax County Public Schools (VA)estimates an annual energy
savings of $4.5 million (7.19%) from energy efficiency improvements
on a $62.6 million utilities budget (FY: 2011-12)
 In 2001, the first year of their Energy Management program, Sandy
Creek CSD (NY) saved $300,000 on a $1.4 Million utility budget (~21%).
Total of $2.7 Million in savings from 2001 to 2009.
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8. Pending Crisis
 Due to the recession, demand for energy supply is down,
resulting in the lowest cost per unit of electricity in the last
decade. Natural gas is also seeing record lows.
This is a TEMPORARY condition. Over time, usage demand
will return and cost/unit will rise)
 Utility delivery (NYSEG, etc)companies are starting to shift
rate structures to put a greater emphasis on peak demand
usage. Over the next 5 years or so we can expect to see
increasing peak demand charges and an elimination of the
differential between day and night rates.
When usage demand returns, we will be impacted by both
increased cost/unit and increased peak demand charges
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9. Accessing Potential Lost Dollars
 By systematically implementing an Energy
Management Plan, many school districts have been
able to reduce energy consumption by 30% to 40%.
 The first 10% of reduction in energy use is possible
with little or no cost.
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10. EPA’s Strategy for Creating an
Energy Management Plan
 STEP 1: Make Commitment
 STEP 2: Assess Performance
 Step 3: Set Goals
 Step 4: Create Action Plan
 Step 5: Implement Action Plan
 Step 6: Evaluate Progress
 Step 7: Recognize Achievements
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11. Key Elements of an Effective
Energy Management Plan
 District wide energy related mission statement
 Defined heating /cooling set points and setbacks
 Defined access hours for midweek and weekends
 Defined path for requesting exceptions
 Adoption at the highest effective level of the District
 Identify local “Energy Champions”
 Easily measurable specific energy target (at the level of
utility metering)
 Peer based energy targets – EPA Portfolio manager
scoring, NYCHIPS,
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12. Resources
 See Auxiliary Docs:
“EPA_Guidelines_for_Energy_Management “
 www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=guidelines.guidelines_index
 www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=evaluate_performance.bus_po
rtfoliomanager
 www.energystar.gov
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13. 2
Understanding your district’s
energy bills
1. Anatomy of a Utility Bill
2. Using Utility Data
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14. Anatomy of a Utility Bill
Thanks to deregulation laws in NYS, our primary utility bills
(electricity and natural gas) are split into two sections:
DELIVERY SUPPLY
 Responsible for physical  Provider of the actual energy
delivery of energy and usage
 Ex: NYSEG Solutions, Direct
metering.
Energy, MEGA, etc.
 Owner of the power lines,
gas piping and onsite meters
 Ex: NYSEG, RGE, etc.
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15. Potential Billing Issues
 Miscellaneous Charges
 Manual download charges on interval meters
 Demand Charges
 Do they appear to be reasonable ?
 Quantities and Volume
 Verify that the figures for kwh, KW and therms of natural gas
agree between the supply and delivery companies. Electricity
should be 1-to-1 and Natural gas should be +- 1.0%.
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16. Using Utility Data
-Utility Bill Tracking and Analysis (Monthly)
 Maintain a copy (physical or electronic) of all utility
bills for use by the Facilities Department.
 Record monthly billing data including unit cost,
quantity and weather information
 Compare usage to similar prior periods to identify
maintenance issues, etc.
 Software Tools:
 MS Excel, EnergyWatchdog, SchoolDude/Utility Direct,
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17. Using Utility Data
-Benchmarking (annually)
Confirm savings from energy conservation investments
Compare a building’s normalized performance vs. internal
and external peers
Software/Service Examples: NYSERDA’s Benchmarking
program, EPA Portfolio Manager
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18. 3
Renewable energy and
alternative technologies
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19. Renewable Energy
Pros and Cons
 Solar and wind make good educational demonstration
projects
 Often fail to save significant amounts of energy and do
not provide reasonable pay back periods
 Things to look for:
 Life of equipment/Maintenance schedules vs. payback periods
 Have we fully explored all other energy conservation options
for our buildings?
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20. Alternative Technologies
Leading Edge vs. Bleeding Edge
Leading Edge Bleeding Edge
 T8 & T5 lighting  LED interior lights
 Modulating/Condensing  Heat reflective white roofing
Boilers  Waterless urinals
 HVAC control software  Geothermal heating and
 Occupancy controls (lighting cooling
& HVAC)  CoGen
 LED lights (in some
situations)
 Utility analysis software
 Co Gen
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21. 4
Understanding funding
opportunities
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22. NYSERDA
 CFA – Consolidated Funding Application – A single
application that streamlines access to NYSERDA’s Grant
program and possibly additional funding from other
NYS agencies.
 Existing Facilities
 FlexTech
 CHIPS 2.0 – High efficiency school building standard
for both new and retrofit building projects
 New opportunities in 2012
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23. NYSEG/RGE & National Grid
 NYSEG/RGE
 Existing Facilities - Small Business Energy Efficiency
Program – Less than 100,000 kwh/month. < 70%
materials & labor.
 National Grid
 Existing Facilities – Lighting – < 50% materials & labor
 All utility delivery companies offer a Custom Measures
Program
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24. Energy Performance
Contracting
 SED allows EPC agreements to go out a maximum of 18
years.
 5 to 10 year EPC agreements are optimal
 Take advantage of SED $100,000.00 project incentive. C&S
Companies of Syracuse has an innovative solution called
“NET ZERO” that combines features of an EPC agreement
with five $100,000.00 projects. Building aid + energy
savings + grant money = $0.00 cost to district for over
$500,000.00 worth of projects.
 Consider a “self-directed” EPC
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25. 5
Identifying low cost/no cost
opportunities to reduce cost
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26. 26

27. Operations & Maintenance
 Functioning as designed
 Calibrate thermostats
 Adjust dampers
 Janitorial services
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28. Functioning as Designed
Retro-commissioning
Regularly inspect all
equipment and controls
to ensure they are
functioning as designed
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29. Functioning as Designed
 Example 1: New school building with regular power quality
problems. Motors burning out, light fixtures failing early.
Two years after construction, it was discovered that a power
conditioner was installed as part of the original construction,
but was never turned on.
 Example 2: Public school built around 1975 with pneumatic
controls, with consistently high heating bills and
increasingly more difficult to control temperature. Detailed
physical inspection of unit ventilators revealed that in prior
years as pneumatic controls failed, the outside air dampers
where hardwired in the open position (either 100% or 75%
open).
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30. Calibrate Thermostats
Periodically, walk
through the building
and compare the
thermostat setting with
a hand held digital
thermometer
(preferably with 2
decimal places)
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31. Adjust Dampers
 Bring in the least
amount of outside air
necessary to maintain
proper air quality
 Reduce outside air
requirements by
adjusting dampers to
minimize the need to
condition outside air
(within codes)
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32. Janitorial Best Practices
 Team Cleaning
 Day Cleaning
 Coordinate Lighting
 Occupancy Sensors
1. Joe Serna Jr (office building. Instituted day cleaning with hours from 11am
to 8pm during 2001 energy crisis. Savings of 8% Total Building Energy
2. Johnson City School District saved 7.95% Total District Energy during fiscal
2010-2011 by time shifting their third shift cleaning staff.
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33. Potential Savings for Changes
to O&M
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34. 34

35. Occupants‘ Behavior
 Turn off Equipment
 Institute an Energy
Awareness Program
 Use ENERGY STAR®
Equipment
 Install Monitor Power
Management Software
 Harvest Daylight
 Use Work Station Task
Lighting/Zoned Lighting
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36. Turn off Equipment
During off hours, make sure to
power down everything –
such as copiers, kitchen
equipment, and task lights
- Smart Power strips
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37. Institute An Energy
Awareness Program
 Create Promotional Items
 Write News Releases
 Link to National Campaigns
 Communications Kit
 Energy Star Partner Kit
(Free)
 - motivate change
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38. Provide Direction on
off-hours use of facilities
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39. Use Energy Star Equipment
Adopt a procurement policy
as part of your overall
successful energy
management strategy
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40. Install Monitor/CPU Power
Management Software
 Monitor Power
Management - Save up to
$55 per monitor annually
 CPU/Hard Drive Power
Management - Save up to
an additional $45 per
computer annually
Harvard University – Deployed EPA Power Management software
across it’s network of 800 computers using 1 technician working for ½
a day.
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41. Potential Savings for Changes
to Occupants’ Behaviors
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42. 42

43. Lighting
 Change Incandescents to CFL &
HID
 Convert T12 to T8 and T5
 Delamp
 Full Floor Lighting Sweeps
 Occupancy Sensors
 High Efficiency LED Exit Signs
 Install Timer Controls or
Photocells for Exterior
Lighting/Dark Campus
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44. Potential Savings for Changes
to Lighting
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45. Convert T12 to T8 & T5
 High efficiency 4 lamp T8
fixture:
 40% less heat output
 10% greater light output
 40% less Watts than T12
 Re-Lamping? Consider
 Luminaire Dirt
 Depreciation
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46. Occupancy Sensors
 Install occupancy sensors
 to automatically turn off
 lights when physical
 movement stops
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47. Install Timer Controls or
Photocells for Exterior Lights
 Automatically controls lights
in response to daylight
 Install timer controls or
photocell for exterior
lighting
 EMS Managed
Lighting/Dark campus
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48. 48

49. Controls
 Adjust Temperature
 After Hours Usage
 Adjust Ventilation
 Limit Access to Thermostats
 Seasonal Changes
 Optimize Start Up Time and
Equipment Sequencing
 Coast Last Hour of Operations
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50. Potential Savings for Changes
to Controls
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51. Adjust Temperature
 Physically walk through the
building and talk with tenants
to determine if the actual
temperature is comfortable.
 Consider clothing worn during
that season
 Reduce (increase) temp. a min
of 10 degrees F at night,
weekends and holidays during
heating (cooling) season
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52. Optimize Start Up Time &
Equipment Sequencing
 Experiment to determine the
 LATEST possible start up
time.
 Can you start your systems 5,
10, 15,30 minutes later and
still achieve the desired
temperature when tenants
arrive?
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53. Coast Last Hour of
Operations
 Experiment to determine the
EARLIEST possible time the
systems can be powered
down while maintaining
comfort.
 Can you shut down 15, 30, 45,
60 minutes early and still
maintain adequate IAQ?
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54. 54

55. Equipment
 Install VFD & VAV
 Install Heat Recovery Equipment
 Relocate Thermostats to Optimal
Locations
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56. Install Variable Frequency
Drives & Variable Air Volume
Systems
 Motors operate at
part-load 98% of the time
 VAV air systems use 30%
less energy than constant
volume
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57. Potential Savings for Changes
to Equipment
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58. New Construction/Retrofit
 Encourage (“demand”) use of integrative design for
your next building project. Develop the building a
system.
 Ask for maximum efficiency envelop and optimize
other components as a system.
 Don’t be dissuaded by potentially high “1st cost” issues.
 Understand long term operating cost for equipment
selected
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59. Keeping Score
 Energy Star Labeling  Utility Bill Tracking
 LEED Software
 CHPS 2.0  EPA Portfolio Manager
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60. Thank You
Email me for full contact information and links to all of
the programs mentioned in this presentation
Alwyn A. John
ajohn@tstboces.org
Cellphone: 607-227-6361
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