Over the past year, in-state natural gas supply concerns have taken center stage in California, and rolling blackouts have become the norm rather than the exception. Most Californians have been hit hard in the pocketbook by high energy bills and are looking for ways to reduce their energy consumption.
In order to conserve energy, students from East San Gabriel Valley Regional Occupational Program/Technical Center (ESGVROP/TC) in West Covina, Calif., have decided to take action to reduce their school's energy usage through the Alliance to Save Energy (ASE) Green Schools program. In its own words, the ASE is a "coalition of business, government, environmental, and consumer leaders who promote the efficient and clean use of energy worldwide to benefit consumers, the environment, economy, and national security."
Green Schools program
The Green Schools program is "designed for K-12 schools to create energy awareness, enhance experiential learning, and save schools money on energy costs," said ASE. According to the Alliance, US K-12 schools spend about $6 billion/year on energy.
As part of the Green Schools program, students at ESGVROP/TC spent 5 days surveying the school's facility for energy waste. Upon completing the energy audit, students came up with "no-cost and low-cost" actions that could reduce their school's energy usage costs by $12,000/year.
The students' no-cost and low-cost actions included turning off equipment that was not being used, resetting thermostats to energy-saving settings, installing or replacing weather stripping, and caulking with quality materials.
Ken Manning, deputy superintendent of administrative services for ESGVROP/TC, said, "I am truly amazed at what these students did. They went to the core of energy efficiency by finding the opportunities to save money and energy. Their results were startling, especially with the crisis that we have here in California. Students are already working to implement the no-cost behavior and operations changes."
ASE's multidisciplinary, hands-on Green Schools program is also aiding schools in New York, Washington, Pennsylvania, and New England.
International school program
Outside the US, ASE is working with schools in India and Ghana. In India, ASE has worked extensively with India's Centre for Environmental Education in order to develop an energy efficiency education program. The primary focus of the program so far has been on establishing Eco-clubs-voluntary, after-school clubs that have about 40 students who meet weekly-in Ahmedabad schools.
Because energy usage in the schools is relatively low, the clubs focus more on general and residential energy efficiency issues.
In Ghana, the Energy Foundation of Ghana is working with ASE and the Ministry of Education to form the pilot for the Green Schools Energy and Environmental Clubs program. In September 2000, five private primary schools in Accra started offering an energy environment after-school club. As in India, Ghana's schools also use very little energy, so the program will focus on reducing energy usage in the students' homes.
ASE said, "The pilot program will form the basis for a national roll-out of the program at a later date. It is envisaged that material on energy conservation techniques will be included in primary and middle school curricula to ensure that primary and middle school students nationwide gain access to energy efficiency knowledge and information."
Commercial, industrial programs
Business owners of commercial and industrial buildings are also looking at alternative ways to conserve energy, and many have become involved with such voluntary programs as the US Environ men tal Protection Agency's Energy STAR Building partnership.
The STAR Building program is a partnership between US companies and EPA to promote energy efficiency in commercial and industrial buildings (OGJ, Aug. 28, 2000, p. 75). The program is designed to help companies better manage their buildings' energy costs and usage. According to EPA, energy waste will cost owners of these buildings about $130 billion by 2010.
EPA said, "Most commercial buildings in this country use energy inefficiently. They use equipment that is either inefficient or just the wrong size. Buildings may also not be properly maintained or may have older, less-efficient equipment. The result is wasted energy and, consequently, higher energy bills."
The STAR Building program involves a five-stage energy upgrade strategy, which reduces equipment costs and enables building owners to achieve energy savings while lowering capital expenditures.
The five-stage program includes "green" lights, building tune-up, HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) load reductions, fan systems upgrade, and HVAC plant improvements.
In 1995, ExxonMobil Corp. predecessor Mobil Corp. joined the Energy STAR Buildings partnership and has saved about $1.7 million/year by implementing the resources offered by the partnership.
Over 3,000 organizations are involved with the STAR Buildings partnership, saving over a combined $1.4 billion/year in energy costs.
