By MECHELE COOPER
Staff Writer Saturday, December 9, 2006

Staff Writer

A program designed to help school districts cut energy costs is producing significant results three years after its inception.

Seven new schools in Maine -- including Cony High School in Augusta and Hall-Dale Elementary School in Hallowell -- report cheaper utility bills after installing lighting with daylight controls and occupancy sensors, carbon dioxide sensors for ventilation, and other energy-saving technology.

The installations were made possible through grants as part of the Efficiency Maine High Performance School program, using federal funds administered by the Maine Public Utilities Commission.

Cony will save $21,483 in electricity this year -- an amount equal to that used by 19 homes -- and use 6,948 fewer gallons of fuel oil, saving $6,809.

The state will send a $100,000 check to Augusta schools Dec. 20 for using energy-efficient equipment. The district already received $20,000 to reimburse it for design costs.

Hall-Dale's new elementary school on Winthrop Street will reap $18,194 in electricity savings this year -- equal to 17 homes -- and use 13,191 fewer gallons of fuel oil than last year. The district received $120,000 from the program for its energy improvements.

The U.S. Department of Energy said U.S. schools spend more than $6 billion a year on energy, and estimates they could save as much as $1.5 billion by building with energy-efficient in mind.

Augusta schools Superintendent Connie Brown said the city and state invested substantially in the new Cony, so the building needs to be suitable for the next 40 or 50 years.

"The cost-saving measures implemented today, we hope, will not only bear fruit this year but for the next 20 years," Brown said Wednesday. "We are all painfully aware that the cost of utilities is significantly higher than they were two or three years ago -- as much as 30 or 40 percent. By taking these measures, it at least mitigates that a little bit."

At Cony, an automatic building control system regulates air flow, air compressors and refrigerators are high-efficiency and heavily insulated, and efficient lighting, air conditioning, motors and appliances all save energy costs.

Energy management not only saves money; Brown said it also improves the learning environment.

She said studies show poor air quality in schools because of inadequate ventilation harms the health, performance and attendance of students and teachers.

Nicole Clegg of the Public Utilities Commission said studies also have found that students taught in classrooms with more natural light score as much as 25 percent higher on standardized tests than other students in the same school district. Natural lighting has also been linked to a 40 percent drop in absenteeism, she said.

"It just goes without saying that the new building far surpasses the old one," Brown said. "If you talk with kids, they'll talk about being in a building that's properly heated and ventilated and the climate is one where you don't have to wear ... jackets and mittens. It does have a positive impact on the learning of students."

Richard Bacon, Efficiency Maine's program manager, said every school system is eligible for the program. There are no qualifications to participate.

He said school districts at the beginning stages of building a new school are alerted to the program by the state Department of Education and the Maine School Management Association, program partners. Technical advisers then work with the school and chosen design team, Bacon said.

Bacon said schools can receive up to $120,000 in grants. The program is funded federally via electric rate surcharge of about $9 per year per household.

New schools participating in the program elsewhere include East End School in Portland, Auburn Elementary School, Scarborough High School, Lincolnville Elementary School and Massabesic Middle School in Waterboro.

Collectively, Clegg said the seven schools will save $152,000 in energy costs this year.

James Goulet, director of school buildings and grounds for School Administrative District 16, which includes Hall-Dale Elementary School, said these schools should be a model for other districts.

He said the three boilers in the new school run on an alternating schedule. Each produces 1.5 million British thermal units per hour, whereas the high school and middle school complex uses 4.5 million BTUs per hour. A BTU is a unit of heat energy.

The new middle school "is really economical in terms of fuel usage," Giroux said. "It burns half of what a same size building would burn. In fact, we check our fuel consumption on a weekly basis and the gallon usage is far less than what I had expected it to be at this time."

Scott Brown, director of the state's school facilities program, said he has been working with 22 new-school projects heavily vested in such high performance elements as electrical systems, wood chip boilers, geothermal heating systems and water-saving fixtures with sensors.

He said the state is trying to provide leadership in energy-efficient school construction not only to reduce the cost of energy, but to reduce fossil fuel consumption and improve the environment in and outside schools.

"We're looking into wood chip boiler technology. There's a school in Leavitt (using it), and geothermal heat pump systems. A school in Gorham is looking into that. You use heat of the ground to supplement heating oil. And today, I finalized a project with a solar hot water heating system."