Energy Challenge Update March 2013

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1 Energy Challenge Update March 2013 Lafayette Elementary As an update, we had the Ambassadors club place the 'lighting awareness" stickers all around the school, and they are working to "spread the word" to the other students and teachers regarding taking responsibility to turn off their lights. Stephanie presented the results of the audit to the PTA, and has spoken with the teachers about keeping their univents clear of objects. And I set back the thermostats with the custodian on the unit heaters serving little-used spaces. The other measures we identified, including a number of lighting-related measures, the programmable thermostats, and the weatherization measure, require funding which the school doesn't have at this time. They are not too expensive (totaling an estimated $13K), so Stephanie mentioned looking for some to donate these items to the school, or perhaps having a fund raiser to pay for these items. This could be something the Ambassadors and the Green Team organize. But these efforts would need to happen in the next school year.

2 Energy Challenge Update March 2013 Whittier International The Kilowatt Kid program was a big part of our unit. Also, my class spent two weeks preparing skits that we performed at an all school assembly. This was how they voted to share their learning with the school. They broke into three groups. The first group performed a skit about how to save energy using lighting (cfl's, turn off lights, use daylight...). The next group did a funny skit about vampire loads. They had two vampires with cloaks and two superheroes. The supergirl heroes got two chatty teenage girls to unplug their chargers and the vampires died a dramatic death. The third skit was about saving energy with heating in the home and driving less. They decided to "turn down the thermostat and hug the cat," and drive less, bike more, and one kid decided to buy a "solar powered Lamborghini " Now were talking about doing a staff presentation at a staff meeting with the kids who were part of the audit. Since mostly teachers have control at school.

3 Energy Challenge Update February 2013 Foothill Elementary The Foothill Student Government reviewed the data collected during our energy audit and brainstormed some ideas for conserving energy here at the school. Students noticed some of the rooms audited had overhead lights on when they entered. While each room does have an operating motion detector (bravo!), many rooms entered were lit and not in use. We talked about the energy consumed and wasted if every classroom in the United States left their lights on for an extra five minutes a day. We realized this would be thousands and thousands of classrooms needlessly wasting electric energy. We decided to place a small reminder near every light switch plate to "turn off." Each student government representative made 2-4 reminder cards and left the meeting prepared to place them next to light switches throughout the school, including classrooms and common areas. We'll do an "audit" of the reminder cards at our March 19 meeting to make sure most switches have been labeled. Additionally at this meeting, we'll survey which classrooms are remembering to turn the lights off, and then make it the official responsibility of the Foothill Student Government Green Team members to get those lights off when exiting rooms. The Green Team will prepare to report back to their classmates why it is so important for us to hit that switch every time we leave the room. We discussed how our parents are the ones who turn out the lights at home. Students decided this was a responsibility they could share. Awareness has been extended beyond Foothill Elementary. Foothill Student Government created a bulletin board for our school lobby to educate our peers with ideas for conserving energy. We've attached some pictures here for you. Thanks for your help with this project. The student government representatives were very enthusiastic. They enjoyed the process, seemed empowered, and committed to saving some energy. For the Foothill Student Government Green Team, Holli Hoskins and Shannon Van Scotter Foothill Elementary

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5 Energy Challenge Update February 2013 Centennial Middle School Submitted a work order to improve deficiency identified in audit Posted When Not in Use, Turn Off the Juice stickers

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7 Energy Challenge Update February 2013 Bear Creek Elementary Students are currently working on some writing assignments related to the audit. They're focusing on several issues -- vampire energy loss, various types of equipment that they observed on but not being used (projectors, computers), personal equipment (fridges, coffee makers, microwaves), incandescent lamps, infiltration (drafty windows and doors), lights on when rooms are unoccupied. Pairs of kids are working on morning announcements, letters to specific teachers and a broadcast for teachers. We're hoping to get these done by next week so we can begin our communications.

8 Boulder High Energy Challenge Update - Feb 2013 Boulder High is making great strides in energy conservation. Here are some of our accomplishments in February. 1. BHS students classes performed energy audits of the building focusing on their choice of areas and devices. Projects ranged from lighting usage, natural lighting availability, differential heating, energy vampires and many others. These projects led to greater awareness about energy use and conservation possibilities. 2. BHS students met with Aaron Mikulewicz, Systems Analyst with the BVSD Maintenance Department, who monitors and controls the BHS HVAC systems. They shared their temperature data with Aaron and learned much about the control of HVAC systems. A big thanks to Aaron for sharing his time and knowledge with these students. 3. BHS students also made Environmental Minute education videos for viewing on PTV, to help educate staff and students regarding their findings on the projects mentioned above. 4. Through data analysis of electricity usage visible on the Solar City portal, we have determined energy usage within our control has been cut by 33% since December. 5. A group of students will be cleaning the solar panels and collecting data as to whether or not cleaning the panels increases solar energy collection and electricity output. 6. Seven students and teacher Julie Shaeffer took part in the 9 th annual Legislative Briefing on Sustainability at the State Capitol on Feb 22. We were able to hear the legislative agendas of many legislators as well as meet with Representative Foote, Representative Levy, Senator Kefalas and Senator Heath. Janna Six with the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado (the event s sponsor) was a huge proponent in getting youth involved. To a sustainable future, BHS Planet Panthers

9 Boulder High Energy Challenge Update - Jan 2013 Boulder High s Planet Panthers Environmental Club is committed to the Energy Challenge and decreasing electricity use in our school and the district. Here are some of our accomplishments so far: 1. We were able to discover an incorrect setting in the district controllers for the HVAC systems in our school. This was heating the building on Sundays and therefore wasting large amounts of energy. This problem was discovered by our team, reported to maintenance and resolved with the help of our district sustainability coordinator. This was not only happening at BHS, but also several other BVSD schools. Our work brought attention to this and led to a fix for all of these schools. 2. We have presented information to faculty via faculty meetings and , and presented to the school as a whole about unplugging energy vampires via PTV. We distributed power strips to faculty and staff and students unplugged before Winter Break. 3. We unplugged school computer labs during break. 4. We are monitoring energy use via our Solar City Portal and weekly electricity usage seems to have dropped. The fact that electricity usage has dropped and at the same time outside temperatures have become much colder is a big deal. The colder temperatures have led to higher usage due to heating, but we've still seen a drop in overall electricity consumption. 5. We are working on school wide action items that we will ask the whole school to perform on specific days, coming soon. 6. We performed an energy audit on our school in early December that is guiding all of this work. We are rockin the conservation efforts and can t wait to do more!

10 Monarch High School s Energy Challenge Update - January, 2013 Students at Monarch High School take initiative in protecting the environment and conserving natural resources by participating in BVSD s Energy Challenge. Monarch High School student, Kaitlin Weideman, collaborated with her fellow students to put together a group of over thirty National Honor Society students to participate in this noteworthy effort. The challenge included reducing the energy used at school, educating students and faculty about energy consumption, including behavioral changes. The students at Monarch conducted an energy audit of the school, including data on temperature, natural light quality and how many watts consumed per room. The energy audit provides a broad overview of Monarch s energy consumption. After the audit was conducted, National Honor Society students stayed after school to assist teachers with unplugging and turning off devices in the classroom before Winter Break. Focus areas included unplugging the overhead projectors, microwaves and standing fans in every classroom. These classroom items consume a significant amount of energy at Monarch High School; a microwave alone consumes an estimated 1,200 Watts. During Winter Break, it is estimated that Monarch saved more than 10, kilowatts of electricity. This is a huge savings of electricity and students are pleased to know they helped the environment, natural resources and their future health. These students will continue to create more ways to educate and reduce energy consumption within the school.