Auburn Elementary was recognized for achieving ENERGY STAR certification at the district’s Jan. 12 board meeting. The first school in Logan County to earn this prestigious certification, Auburn Elementary received this recognition after implementing a variety of energy and maintenance savings techniques that reduce the negative impact on the environment and produce energy savings, as well as a more comfortable and safe environment for students and staff.
Logan County Director of Maintenance Jason Givens says, “Our work with experts from Harshaw Trane helped us implement an energy schedule allowing the district to modify our energy usage to meet the students’ needs as well as cut wasted energy usage. It is important to focus on energy savings because we want to save the district money on operational costs, as well as lower our carbon footprint.”
In addition, Logan County Director of Operations Ben Kemplin says, “Every penny we save in energy cost is a penny that the schools can use for educating our students. Those pennies add up! We want to be good stewards of our funds, and at the same time, teach our children to conserve energy and resources for future use.”
Lastly, Auburn Elementary principal David Ward says, “The faculty and staff encourage students to save our resources whenever the opportunity arises. Teachers turn off classroom lights when leaving the room, classroom leaders ensure the water is turned off at each sink and the front office even utilizes the natural light passing through the large panels of glass in lieu of turning on the lights.”
To earn the ENERGY STAR awards, the district partnered with Harshaw Trane, an energy services company based in Louisville. By leveraging their relationship with Harshaw Trane, the district ensured that the facility’s systems would remain optimized to sustain and further grow savings opportunities.
Commercial buildings and schools that earn the ENERGY STAR label use an average of 35 percent less energy than typical buildings and also release 35 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Through a Performance Contract in 2001 and an Intelligent Services program earlier this year, the district has saved $1.34 million in energy usage avoidance.
The environmental impact of the savings seen in Logan County, calculated using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data, is 11,657 metric-tons of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to 3,870 passenger cars not driven for one year, 41,575 barrels of oil not burned, 2,295 households’ worth of electricity use for one year or 147 acres of trees preserved from deforestation.
“Dr. Kevin Hub and his team at Logan County Schools are committed to providing the best possible environment for their students and faculty while being good stewards of their community’s tax dollars,” said Education Sustainability Leader Kyle Johnson with Harshaw Trane.
“This Energy Star Award for Auburn Elementary is a great example of this commitment. Harshaw Trane has developed a solid partnership with Logan County Schools and we look forward to building upon that partnership with Dr. Hub and his staff for many years to come.”