Crawford County was recognized for achieving ENERGY STAR certifications for Crawford County Jr-Sr High School at the district’s May 15th board meeting. The district received this recognition after implementing a variety of energy and maintenance savings techniques that provide energy savings, as well as a more comfortable and safe environment for students and staff.
To earn the ENERGY STAR awards, the district partnered with Harshaw Trane, an energy services company based in Louisville, Kentucky. By leveraging the relationship with Harshaw, the district ensured that the facility’s systems would remain optimized to sustain and further grow savings opportunities.
Commercial buildings that earn the ENERGY STAR label use an average of 35 percent less energy than typical buildings and also release 35 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Since partnering with Harshaw Trane in 2013, the district has saved over $56,600 in energy and operational cost avoidance. This equates to:
- Electric Usage Savings – 469,273 kWh
- Natural Gas Usage Savings – 13,834 ccf
The environmental impact, calculated using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data:
- 616 Equivalent Metric-Tons of Carbon Dioxide
- 133 Passenger cars not driven for one year
- 1,433 Barrels of oil not burned
- 79 Households’ worth of electricity use for one year
- 5 Acres of trees preserved from deforestation
“The ENERGY STAR Certification at Crawford County High School resulted from the leadership and school board being fully committed to leading from the front on tying together environmental and fiscal concerns, not seeing them on opposing sides of the same coin. With full buy in of their amazing staff and students, they have achieved and continue to achieve amazing financial savings while striving for a more sustainable educational environment with Trane Intelligent Services. So much so, they will be expanding the program to Marengo Middle School for the 2018-2019 school year,” said Thomas Raleigh, Harshaw Trane Account Manager. “This program provides the transparency, ongoing support, and results reporting the school corporation needs in order to know their decisions are creating wins for Crawford County. Harshaw Trane looks forward to working with the district staff in the future to ensure their continued success.”