Two elementary schools in the Trotwood-Madison City Schools district have attained the highly sought-after U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star certification with the assistance of Energy Optimizers, USA.
The schools, Madison Park Elementary and Westbrooke Village Elementary, join an elite group of high performing facilities. Energy Star certified buildings and plants perform in the top 25 percent of similar buildings nationwide. On average, these buildings use 35 percent less energy, generate 35 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions and are less expensive to operate than similar buildings.
“In setting out to make our district more energy efficient, we wanted to save taxpayer dollars and serve as a leader in energy conservation,” said Trotwood-Madison City Schools Superintendent Kevin Bell. “Attaining Energy Star certification highlights our commitment to secure a better future for our students and our community. We couldn’t have done this without Energy Optimizers, USA.”
To be eligible for Energy Star certification, a building must attain a score of 75 or higher on the EPA’s energy performance scale. Both elementary schools exceeded the requirements, with Madison Park Elementary earning a rating of 87 and Westbrooke Village Elementary earning a rating of 83.
The certification is the result of a district-wide upgrade to lighting and HVAC systems that Trotwood Schools completed in September 2015.
The district partnered with Energy Optimizers, USA, to:
To date, the upgrades have saved the district more than $266,000 on electrical and gas utilities.
As part of the project, Energy Optimizers, USA, compared each building’s utility bills before and after the project. The company then used this information to assign each building a score using the EPA’s energy performance scale. The study showed that the energy conservation project significantly reduced the amount of energy needed to operate both Madison Park and Westbrooke schools.
