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Kentucky School Advocate

May 2018

Battle stations
East Valley Elementary School in Morgan County reduced its energy consumption between 2016 and 2017 by more than 40 percent, earning it the championship title in the Kentucky’s 2018 Battle of the School Buildings competition, sponsored by KSBA. Maryville Elementary School in Bullitt County was a close second, a fraction of a percentage point behind.

In total, 110 schools statewide entered the 2018 competition, overseen by KSBA’s School Energy Managers Project (SEMP). KSBA representatives announced the results April 17 at the closing of the annual School Energy Summit in Lexington.

Eight of the participating schools reduced energy use by 20 percent or more during the 2018 competition and were recognized with a plaque. In all, 89 of them reduced energy use. Many of the schools had implemented energy management programs several years ago and had already seen significant energy reductions.

In Kentucky’s Battle of the School Buildings, school energy managers or other district staff tracked energy usage on a monthly basis over the past year, using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. The data measures the weather-normalized source energy per square foot.

Three STARS
For the third year in a row, the U.S. EPA has named KSBA an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence in Energy Efficiency Program Delivery. Winners in the annual awards are selected from a network of thousands of ENERGY STAR partners.

KSBA was recognized for creating the School Energy Managers Project to help schools implement energy-efficiency projects and for increasing the number of ENERGY STAR-certified schools in Kentucky. Key 2017 accomplishments cited by the EPA include:

• Achieving more than $170 million in avoided energy costs and reducing electricity usage across the state by more than 380 million kilowatt hours since 2010.

• Increasing the number of ENERGY STAR-certified schools in Kentucky from six to more than 410 since 2006 by funding and including ENERGY STAR tools and resources into energy manager trainings.

• Sponsoring Kentucky’s Battle of the School Buildings recognition modeled after EPA’s National Building Competition.

• Providing leadership to school energy managers, administrators, facility directors and other personnel through the School Energy Summit.

• Reducing the statewide energy use intensity by more than 15 kilo British thermal units per square foot since 2010.

• Educating school board members, superintendents, government officials, and others throughout Kentucky on the importance of energy management through presentations, newsletters and meetings.

KSBA wasn’t the only Kentucky education-related organization recognized by the U.S. EPA. Both Kenton County Schools and Scott County Schools were recognized as ENERGY STAR Partners of the Year – Sustained Excellence in Energy Management.

The EPA noted that Kenton County began its energy management efforts in 2005 and has been an ENERGY STAR partner for more than a decade, winning national recognition for its award-winning energy education program. The district avoided more than $1.4 million in energy costs in 2017 through energy management and reduction, equivalent to 38 teaching positions, and saving more than $11 million since 2005.

Scott County Schools became an ENERGY STAR partner in 2010 and utilizes the program’s tools and resources to make improvements in energy efficiency and reduce operating costs. The district realized more than $900,000 in avoided costs in 2017 and more than $5 million since 2010 by incorporating ENERGY STAR best practices.

Late-breaking
The Kentucky Board of Education, with a complement of seven newly appointed members, received the resignation, effective immediately, of Education Commissioner Stephen Pruitt during a special meeting April 17. The board hired Wayne Lewis, a policy adviser in the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet and associate professor at University of Kentucky, as interim commissioner.