COMMERCE - The Commerce ISD has been recognized for energy savings less than two years after an agreement that sought energy-efficient behavior.
In the 21 months since forming a strategic alliance with Energy Education, a national energy conservation company, the district has achieved a 29 percent cost savings totaling $441,438.
As a result, CISD is to be presented with the Energy Pacesetter Award during the Board meeting October 24th. The Energy Pacesetter Award is for those organizations that are “setting the pace” in energy savings for others. It is designated only for programs achieving above-average savings, recognizing the support and cooperation of administration, faculty and staff organization-wide.
“Reaching this level of savings at this stage of the program is a significant achievement. Commerce Independent School District has done an excellent job of implementing Energy Education’s organizational behavior-based approach to energy conservation and maintaining productive efforts at all levels of the organization," said Dr. William S. Spears, CEO and founder of Energy Education. "The chief administrator and board, along with other administration, faculty and staff members are to be commended for clearly fulfilling their commitment to being good stewards of the taxpayers’ money and the environment. ”
Commerce ISD Superintendent Blake Cooper said, “We are very proud of the work accomplished by our Energy Education Specialist Kevin Shaw who has led our district in our conservation efforts. Our staff has worked hard to cut costs while maintaining a comfortable environment for learning. ”
A key benefit of the Energy Education program is that all costs come out of the existing utility budget, with savings projected to more than pay for the program, as they have done for Commerce ISD. Additional savings can be redirected to other parts of the budget. Many organizations credit the program with helping keep personnel and programs that would otherwise have fallen victim to budget cuts — a very real concern with today’s rising energy cost concerns.
Shaw tracks energy consumption — including electricity, water, sewer, natural gas and fuel oil — using energy-accounting software. He compares current energy use to a baseline period and calculates the amount of energy that would have been used had conservation and management practices not been implemented. By tracking consumption and analyzing energy use, Shaw can quickly identify and correct areas that need immediate attention.