In June of 2014, the district wrapped up a project to improve overall energy usage at all of its buildings. The district expected to achieve $240,832 in utility savings annually, with a 10-year payback for the $2.4 million contract. By the end of June of 2015, however, the district achieved a savings of $317,862. The savings are normalized, or adjusted to account for outliers in weather conditions and costs.
"Our district has long been proactive in its efforts to lower utility bills through improved energy conservation," said Ken Lackey, director of business services for Kettering City Schools. "The project we undertook with Energy Optimizers, USA, was clearly a step in the right direction. We are pleased to see better than expected gains, which translates into greater savings for our taxpayers. Not only are we improving our indoor environment with more energy efficient equipment and programming, we are also improving our bottom line."
The project included:
* Replacement of interior and exterior lighting with more energy-efficient lamps.
* Enhancements to the building's temperature controls and installation of advanced energy management programming to improve energy conservation.
* Controls commissioning to ensure HVAC equipment is operating as intended.
* A truck and bus automated block heater system to improve energy conservation.
Funding was provided through the Ohio School Facilities Commission's House Bill 264 (HB 264) program, enabling the district to make these cost-cutting improvements at no expense to taxpayers. Under the HB 264 program, the energy savings cover the cost of the financing used to fund the projects.
State Representative Jim Butler lauded the district's ongoing strides to conserve taxpayer dollars.
"Kettering City Schools has long been a leader in both educational achievement and financial stewardship," Butler said. "This is just one more example of their drive to invest their efforts in smart, sustainable strategies that position the district for long-term fiscal health."
Bob Hausmann, chief operating officer for Energy Optimizers, USA, agreed.
"This is a great success story for Kettering City Schools, one that really benefits the entire community," Hausmann said. "Improving energy efficiency is one of the wisest investments that school districts can make, particularly when they use HB 264 dollars. The return on investment alone allows for more dollars to be spent in the classroom, rather than paying for utility bills."
About Energy Optimizers, USA:
Energy Optimizers, USA works with educational, governmental, commercial and industrial customers to implement energy savings opportunities to reduce operational costs, including lighting retrofits, renewable energy projects (wind and solar), HVAC retrofit projects, building automation retrofits and energy education programs. The company is ranked in the Top 500 of INC. Magazine's list of 5,000 fastest growing companies in the U.S. (2014), was named the Fastest Growing Company in the region for two consecutive years by the Dayton Business Journal (2013, 2014), and was named a BBB Eclipse Integrity Award Finalist (2012).
To learn more about Energy Optimizers, USA, visit their website at http://energyoptusa.com/ or call them at (937) 877-1919.
Twitter: @EoptimizeUSA
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NEWS SOURCE Energy Optimizers, USA :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (who is solely responsible for its accuracy) by and Copr. © 2015 Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®.