During a ceremony last week at the Edward L. Kelly Leadership Center, Prince William County Public Schools was honored for their energy savings program.
Brian Gorham, Energy Management Administrative Coordinator for Prince William schools stated that since the program began in all county schools, he’s seen a huge savings – $11 million to be exact.
“In 2011, we actually spent over $23 million dollars on utility expenses as a school division…since instituting the energy management program…I’m proud to report that through the efforts of [school employees] we’ve been able to reduce our utility expenses down to $19.5 million dollars on an annual basis,” said Gorham.
Additionally, Gorham also stated that the schools have reduced their CO2 emissions footprint by 46,000 tons.
For Superintendent Steven Walts, the savings the county has seen since implementing the plan, which includes upgrading HVAC systems, weather stripping, and converting some fixtures to solar or battery power, has been a huge help during tough economic times for the school district.
“[I’ve been] trying to navigate through one very difficult budget year after another, and one of the things that has been instrumental in getting through the last couple of budgets…we’ve got another $2 million in energy savings…these savings have made a humongous monetary impact without major disruption to people’s comfort and convenience,” Walts said.
Jean Lupinacci, director of an Energy Star program for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was in attendance at the ceremony to award district schools for their conservation efforts.
The following schools were honored:
Alvey, Antietam, Bennett, Buckland Mills, Cedar Point, Coles, Dale City, Enterprise, Featherstone, Fitzgerald, Gar-Field, Graham Park, Henderson, Kerrydale, Kilby, Leesylvania, Lynn, Marumsco Hills, McAuliffe, Montclair, New Dominion, Old Bridge, Pattie and Washington-Reid, Pennington, Rockledge, Rosa Parks, Springwoods, Swans Creek, Westridge, Woodbridge HS, Woodbridge MS.
