By Joanne Degnan, Managing Editor
ROBBINSVILLE — Success is sweet, so the school board last week celebrated saving $108,658 in energy costs at its four school buildings with Nestle “100 Grand” candy bars for everyone.
The candy, compliments of facilities manager Kim Keener, was a lighthearted footnote to a presentation by the district’s energy czar, John Blair, about the serious savings achieved over a nine-month period by following a customized energy conservation plan that the district has developed under a contract with Energy Education Inc.
”The No. 1 job of our energy program is to save dollars,” said Mr. Blair said during a PowerPoint presentation to update the public and Board of Education at its May 31 meeting.
The school district’s energy use has dropped 11.6 percent since June, despite an increase in electric, gas and heating oil costs and a winter that was 17.2 percent colder than the prior year, Mr. Blair said. The figures presented reflected energy usage from July-March.
School Business Administrator Bob DeVita noted the program, although officially launched in July 2010, didn’t really get up to full speed until early November because of the need to first create the conservation plan and train employees on new computer software.
”This is just the beginning for us,” Mr. DeVita said. “Next year we fully expect to be up in that 20 to 30 percent (savings) range.”
The district’s 10-year contract with Energy Education Inc. costs $146,280 in years one through four, and $0 after that. The contract guarantees the district will save an amount that is at least equal to the cost of the contract by Oct. 31, 2011. (The district is not being charged for the training period that ran from June 2010 to November 2010).
Mr. DeVita said Monday that the district was confident it would exceed the $146,280 savings goal by Oct. 31 when the first year ends.
”We should realize significant savings this summer,” Mr. DeVita said. “If we don’t save at least the amount we pay them, we will receive a refund for the difference.”
Mr. Blair, who is also a Spanish teacher at the high school, gave an overview of how the program works.
”We want the equipment we have to work at its maximum efficiency and we want to eliminate waste by changing the habits of the staff,” Mr. Blair said.
As “energy czar,” Mr. Blair’s task is to create a “culture of conservation” where staff and faculty remember to turn off lights and power down computers. He must also conduct the occasional 4 a.m. spot checks of the district’s various buildings.
”He comes in at odd hours to listen, to hear if something is running that shouldn’t be,” Superintendent Steve Mayer said. “That’s how he realized, for example, that the kitchen fans were running all night in the cafeteria and wasting energy.”
To track its energy use, the district uses a powerful computer software program, EnergyCAP, to monitor and analyze energy consumption in the various school buildings. It also audits and monitors utility bills and meters for errors and overcharges.
Mr. Blair said the measurement and verification guidelines being followed take into account fluctuating energy prices, changes in a building’s square footage, portable buildings, alterations to the mechanical systems, and the varying lengths of utility billing cycles.
Mr. Mayer said the initiative promises significant returns for the school district in the future.
”The whole program works off cost avoidance and the savings that we achieve can be redirected into other school programs,” Mr. Mayer said.
In the years ahead, the substantial dollars saved by energy conservation could mean “the difference between staffing teachers in the classroom or not,” Mr. Mayer said.

