~ Thank You and Farewell ~

Thank you to the wonderful staff and terrific students throughout the Robbinsdale Area School District for welcoming me into your classrooms and buildings; first through the SEE (Schools for Energy Efficiency) program for four years and then these past two years with an independent GREEN Initiative (Getting Robbinsdale Energy Efficient Now).

Please continue to be good stewards of our energy resources and keep modeling energy efficient behavior wherever you go. It has been a pleasure to serve you these past six years. I will leave you with a quote from Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, which is more timely than ever.

Final Energy Insight

As this blog comes to a close, here is an old favorite...

Today's Energy Insight

The average lifespan for a LED light bulb is up to how many hours???

A) 1,200 hours

B) 20,000 hours

C) 150,000 hours

D) 500,000 hours


Scroll down to check your answer...

According to Xcel Energy, the correct answer is D, a whopping 500,000 hours!
And remember, LED bulbs use even less energy than CFL bulbs.

U.S. Energy Consumption

Residential

Industrial

Commercial

Transportation

In the United States, which of these consumes the highest amount of energy at 30.8% and which consumes the least of the four at 18.6%?

Scroll down to check your answer...

According to the Energy Information Administration, U.S. energy consumption by sector breaks down as follows:

30.8%  Industrial

28.1%  Transportation

22.6%  Residential

18.6%  Commercial

Today's Energy Insight

Using recycled aluminum scrap to make aluminum cans uses how much less energy than making new aluminum cans from scratch?

25%     48%     79%     95%

Scroll down to check your answer...

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, using recycled aluminum to make cans uses 95 percent less energy than making new ones from bauxite ore, the raw material used to make aluminum.  Recycling can make a difference with regard to inputs for other manufacturing processes, as well. Making a ton of paper from recycled paper, for instance, saves up to 17 trees and uses 50 percent less water.

Today's Energy Insight

It's that time of year again, time to bust the myth about running fans in the summer.

In a recent article on the website Off the Grid News, several energy myths were listed and busted. One in particular stood out because some people I know (one of my sons specifically) will leave fans running in unoccupied areas ALL the time.

MYTH: Leaving fans on in summer when you leave the house is a good way to keep rooms cool. After all, if you allow your home to heat up while you are away, you will have to use extra energy to cool it down again once you return.


This is not true – fans move the air, but they don’t really cool it, and leaving them on when no one is around is a waste of energy and money. There are a few exceptions like when controlling humidity during the summer by drawing cool air from an underground area to prevent mold.

Today's Energy Idea

Here's a bright idea for you to consider...

By replacing your five most frequently used light bulbs with models that have earned the ENERGY STAR label, you can save more than $60 a year in energy costs. Just imagine the savings if you swapped out most or ALL of your light bulbs for energy efficient ones!
Additionally, if every home in America changed their five most frequently used light bulbs with those that have earned the ENERGY STAR label, we would prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from more than eight million cars. Wow, that is eliminating a lot of pollutants! Check out the huge variety of LED bulbs available at your local hardware store, so many options!

Today's Energy Insight

Did you know our schools are billed twice for our electricity use? Well, technically there are two components to our school’s electricity bill - the energy charge and the demand charge. The bills we see at our homes have the cost per kilowatt hour of electricity used, but schools and other commercial buildings are also charged for their peak demand load.

Here is how electric energy is billed for a school:
1. Energy Charge (use over time): Electricity is typically metered at each school facility to determine the amount of kilowatt hours used. This meter is read each month and the difference in the readings accounts for the total consumption; school are billed accordingly.

2. Demand Charge (use at one point in time): Utility companies look at the highest peak of electric use during the month. For example, during the month of December, the total peak demand will be measured every fifteen minutes and charted on a graph. The highest electric load during the month is what the utility will bill for demand. So in other words, if one day out of the month you have everything powered to full blast, that’s the day you’ll be charged for all month.

Why does a utility company have this charge?
Electricity-consuming equipment in a school determines the school’s demand for electricity. As electric use fluctuates during the day and during various seasons, it creates unknown electric load demands for a utility company. In order to accommodate for this, the utility company needs to know the maximum amount of electricity required to provide to their customers.

How can schools help reduce this electricity charge?
Focus on reducing energy use from 11am – 2pm, since that is when occupancy and energy use are highest. In fact, lunch hour is typically the most energy-intense time of the day in a school. Building engineers are trained on how to schedule their large equipment to lower their peak demand load. It is important to understand this concept in case you do play a role in a strategy to reduce these demands costs.

It's the Final Countdown...

At the end of this month, the current energy awareness and educational campaign for Robbinsdale Area Schools will be coming to a close. After six successful years, the approximate savings realized throughout the district are close to 3/4 of a million dollars! This estimate does not include all the savings through the UNESCO projects that included lighting retrofits, HVAC upgrades and more.

With the absence of the campaign materials out in the buildings, no more educational activities in the classrooms and the end of these blog posts, it is going to be up to YOU to remind yourself to be vigilant about being energy conscious so the district can run as efficiently as possible.
Remember saved energy = money saved!

Think GREEN ~ Getting Robbinsdale Energy Efficient Now!

School's Out for Summer!

It's that time of year again. Buildings are empty of students and most staff. There are many opportunities to save energy during June, July and August. Please make sure to do the following to keep our buildings operating efficiently throughout the summer months:

• Close blinds and drapes.
• Keep vents clear of books and boxes.
• Turn off monitors, printers, speakers, smart boards, etc.
• Turn off and unplug all miscellaneous electronics.
• Consolidate refrigerators in staff lounges; turn off, clean and prop open all but one.
• Empty, turn off, clean and prop open refrigerators in FACS rooms and science labs.
• Be aware of any opportunities to save energy during the unoccupied months.

Today's Energy Insight

A Little Peer Pressure Can Be a Good Thing!

By definition, peer pressure is “influence from members of one's peer group.” That said, how about influencing your peers by being a model of energy efficiency? When you see someone practicing energy efficient habits, it can be contagious!

Thanks for being energy smart and putting a bit of pressure on your peers to do the same! A little teamwork goes a long way!