Enigin Update - $29M Savings Through Energy Efficiency for Long Beach Schools
LONG Beach Unified School District (LBUSD), California, have been officially recognised for their energy efficiency improvements, as well as benefitting with substantial financial savings worth $29 million.
The school district has received Energy Star certification from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The certification is based upon an international standard for energy efficiency - buildings that earn the Energy Star use 35 percent less energy and generate 35 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than similar buildings.
LBUSD began its concerted conservation efforts with the establishment of energy efficiency policies and directions aimed at researching, measuring and reducing the usage of electricity.
Energy efficiency efforts have included rigorous tracking of utility bills to identify inconsistencies and reduce waste, they also performed site and energy meter audits using monitoring systems.
Through these efforts billing errors were discovered and corrected, behavioral changes took place, equipment calibrated and alterations to the time when energy was used to produce optimal energy efficiency. Energy efficiency technology was vital to produce the substantial savings, including energy efficient lighting systems and Internet and network controlled energy management systems.
Enigin plc's EnergyMaps programme relies on Eniscope Real-time network and internet energy monitoring and management system to highlight where and when energy can saved, highlighting where further technology, such as ACES lighting management, can be implemented - all available locally through Enigin Distributors.
The school district had 84 sites certified, meaning it has 30 percent of the Energy Star-certified schools across California.
LBUSD’s Chief Business and Financial Officer James Novak said: "To have 84 schools recognized is absolutely amazing. Most school districts have a big celebration if one or two schools are recognized."
The sustainability efforts have cut out the emissions of nearly 62,000 metric tons of CO2, equivalent to 1.5 million trees over 10 years to eliminate the same amount of CO2 from the atmosphere.
Picture of Long Beach School by lavocado reproduced under CCL.
