Central High School Green Team
2 The Lauderdale County School System is partnering with The Alliance to Save Energy out of Washington, D.C. and TVA. They have developed Green Schools across the nation. We are the first school system is the state of Alabama to use this program.
What is Energy? Energy makes things go. It is the capacity to do work, heat something up, or change it in some way.
Uses of Energy To generate electricity for our computers, lights, refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners For gasoline used in our cars, and diesel fuel used in our trucks
Energy, from one form to another chemical heat mechanical electrical
Why Should We Care About Saving Electricity? MONEY Schools pay more for energy than textbooks and computers combined! Schools nationwide spend more than $8 billion/year on energy Every dollar saved is income that can benefit our school 7
Kilowatt-hours (kWh) We pay for electricity based on the number of kilowatts (or 1,000 watts) used per hour The power company bills you in cents per kilowatt-hour How many cents do you think schools in TVA region pay/kWh? 10 cents, or $0.10 8
Question About how much money does Central High School pay for electricity? - $12, per month - $154,000 per year 9
How electricity is used in schools nationwide: 10
LIGHTING Recommendations How do you save energy used by lighting? -C-C onserve Behavior – turn off lights Set timers/sensors if present; inside and outside/parking lots -I-I mprove/reduce light levels Delamp (remove lamps from fixtures) Use daylighting and turn off lights Use bulbs with more appropriate (less) wattage/light output Clean or replace dirty or warped fixture covers 11
Behavior Makes a Difference… Some simple energy behavior rules: Turn it off Turn it down Take it out Unplug it Use available daylight 12
Energy Bills: Demand Charge WHEN you use things can matter as much to your energy bill as HOW MUCH you use This is called a demand charge When everyone uses energy at the same time, it costs more for the utility to produce, causing PEAK DEMAND and higher costs For us, this is between the hours of 8 and 3.
This year’s Green Team audited the classrooms on our campus. We determined that the average classroom costs roughly $2.00 per school day minus heating and cooling and appliances such as microwaves, coffee makers, and refrigerators. This is about $40, 000 per year for the entire school. So this means we have a lot of room to save!
One quick way we found to save was on lighting. We discovered in the course of our audits that our classrooms are over lit. This means that we could all afford to go with less lights. We found that if every light fixture was delamped by removing one bulb, the school could save about $9,400. This means you don’t have to do anything!
One big way that you can help is by reducing phantom load. Phantom load is the energy an appliance uses even when it is turned off. Channel One T. V. cost $1.23 per year per room Microwave cost ½ cent per day Printer cost a $1 per year Speakers cost ½ cent per day Projector cost 1 cent per day Coffee pot costs 7 cents per day Computer costs 1 cent per day
So here are our recommendations for the first quarter: Turn lights off when you are not in the room; or only use ½ of your lights during planning time Unplug computer, projector, printer, and microwave over the weekend. Turn off your printer when it isn’t in use. Turn off your monitor when it isn’t in use during the school day (saves 3 cents per day) - $8 a day school wide - $1500 per year Actually shut down computers at night – It costs a little over $2 a day for computers left on at night
Students auditing a classroom * Be sure you are using your refrigerator if it is plugged in.
Our potential savings off of just these changes is about $26,000 per year!
Our Goal If we work together, we can make a big impact on our school. For however much money we save, our school will receive 50% back. 10% of that will be spilt amongst the teachers. The more money we save, the more money you get!
Central High School’s Green Team