Energy audit shows how LR district can save

Following the results of an energy audit, the Logan-Rogersville School District is taking steps towards saving energy and power.

The audit, which was held only at the Upper-Elementary School, is an effort put forth by the Webster County Cooperative.

Bobbi Ragsdale, the cooperative’s office manager, said essentially the school didn’t have to pay a penny for the audit, which has an estimated cost of $6,000. She said the company that handles the power for the cooperative; Associated Electric has rebates associated with the audit so that their company shares the expense with the local cooperative, while the schools’ fees are waved.

The audits are available to schools and commercial businesses in the area, Ragsdale said.

“The audit shows how reduces the reduction of electric energy being used can help the business or school to be more power efficient,” Ragsdale said.

Even thought the audit results rated the energy efficiency at the building to be fairly good, there were still possible improvements noted. The big money saver for LRUE was the replacement of the school's  boiler, which according to Shawn Randles, the assistant superintendent, needed to be replaced anyway.

Replacing the boiler is the only step the Board of Education has formally taken since the audit. The board voted unanimously during their April meeting to replace the boiler for $35,140.

According to the audit’s summary, the new boiler will pay for itself in a little under seven years and will save the district $5,036 a year.

Even though that is the only action the board has taken at this time, the audit of the school showed other ways to improve the building’s energy management. Randles said the time frame that board and district takes action depends on time and funds.

 “There is enough money for the district to do one school per year, if the board decides to go with the per year plan,” Randles said.

Randles said he thinks the audits, present and future can make a difference to the district.

“One of my jobs is to make sure things are running as efficiently as possible from the operations stand point so we can free up money for the classroom,” Randles said.

The audit included other ways to save energy in the building including installing lighting controls and having a school energy team.

Randles said it is amazing the kind of smart technology that is available for energy saving these days.

“As smart technology the lighting controls not only shut off the lights when a class leaves the room, but if a class leaves the room at 2 p.m. every day, the sensor learns that at 2 p.m. everyday everyone leaves the room,” he said.

Randles said implementing a school energy team is something the faculty and staff will talk about at their beginning of the school year meetings in August. The main job of the members of the energy team will be to make sure energy using sources are off such as a light switch or a computer.

Ragsdale said every year Webster Electric is budgeting $10,000 for the audits and there several schools under the cooperative that are eligible to participate, however Rogersville schools are the first to participate in the audits.