Simple Steps for K-12 Districts to Save Money & Conserve Energy

With summer quickly approaching, we know you are busy preparing for the end of the school year, graduation, summer activities, and more. However, it’s important to also adjust your facilities for occupancy reduction to mitigate increased utility costs during the summer months.

Utility rates are expected to increase as much as 6% during summer months, depending on geographical location and your service provider.

Utility rates are the highest annually from Just 1^st through September 30^th. In fact, rates will increase as much as 6% depending on geographical location and your service provider. To avoid unnecessarily high charges, it’s imperative that energy usage is minimized. Below are simple actions you can take to help conserve energy and costs during the summer season.

Energy Consumption Checklist

HVAC

• Review daily HVAC schedule to ensure systems are only being utilized when needed.
• Place all unoccupied HVAC units into unoccupied/setback mode.
• Stagger HVAC start up to reduce maximum demand (KW).
• Follow recommended occupied temperature set points: heating at 68° F, cooling at 73°F.
• Follow recommended unoccupied temperature set points: heating at 45° F, cooling at 90° F.

Lighting

• Turn off all manual lights and adjust automated lighting controls to operate unoccupied mode to minimize use of lights.
• Ensure exterior lights remain off during the daytime and adjust external automated lighting controls as needed.
• Be sure the keep field lighting turned off if possible.

Electronic Devices

• Unplug all electronic devices. Check with the IT department before unplugging computers and tablet charging carts. (i.e. monitors, computers, non- network printers, power strips, TV’s, projectors, clocks, coffee pots, pencil sharpener, personal clocks, lamps and candles, etc.).

Kitchens

• Consolidate refrigerated and frozen food to walk in refrigerators and freezers.
• Unplug all stand-alone refrigerators, freezers, food warmers, and milk refrigerators.

Mini Refrigerators

• Unplug, defrost, and leave refrigerator door OPEN.

Doc-u-cams/projectors

• Turn off all doc-u-cams and projectors after each has cooled down.

Pets/Plants

• Remove all classroom and office animals, fish, reptiles, and plants.
• Close all blinds/shades, especially in spaces not occupied.

Pool Heaters

• Turn off and properly shut down pool heaters and non-essential equipment.

Reduce Peak Energy Use

• Take note of your area’s peak hours for energy usage as costs are higher during this time.
• Implement the above tips, especially during peak hours, to reduce electric use.

Your Partner in K-12 Energy Management

At SitelogIQ, we have spent several decades partnering with school districts throughout the U.S. to bring comfort, functionality, and sustainability to the classroom through facility improvement and energy efficiency solutions. We know that every district is unique, that’s why we will take the time to perform a comprehensive assessment of your facilities to understand your district needs and help identify opportunities to conserve energy during the summer months and all year long.

With our technology-enabled solutions platform, mySiteIQ, we can develop a personalized and interactive dashboard that allows you to easily track your District’s energy consumption and achieve your energy, operational, or sustainability goals. If you would like help assessing ways to reduce energy and utility charges at your District, contact us today!