Jackson EMC Commercial/Industrial Engineer Brittany Caison and Barbi Ibele, Gwinnett County Public Schools Energy Star Coordinator, discuss gymnasium lighting at Gwinnett’s Archer High School.
As a long-time advocate of energy efficiency, Jackson EMC was excited at last month’s announcement that Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) was being honored as Georgia’s Green Ribbon School District for its efforts to design, build, maintain and operate schools for energy efficiency. The cooperative, along with other utilities serving GCPS facilities, has worked as a partner in the System’s quest to better manage its electric use.
Georgia’s largest school district has 125 ENERGY STAR certified schools and leads the nation for K-12 certified building space. Those schools’ energy efficiency saves county taxpayers about $9 million a year in utilities and generates 35 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions. It took a long-term, strategic plan to achieve and keep ENERGY STAR certification.
Jackson EMC began conducting limited energy audits in 2010 at schools served by the cooperative. At the request of GCPS ENERGY STAR Coordinator, Barbi Ibele, Commercial/Industrial Engineer Brittany Caison has begun a systematic audit of all GCPS schools served by Jackson EMC and has completed 24 of 41 scheduled audits – at no charge to the schools. Energy audits have pointed out areas for savings that included use of natural lighting, lighting retrofits, occupancy sensors and automated energy management systems.
“Jackson EMC created and designed the commercial commercial/industrial engineer position as a service for all commercial and industrial customers to help audit their energy usage and offer suggestions for improvements,” explains Lee Chapman, director, Commercial/Industrial Marketing for Jackson EMC. “Gwinnett County Public Schools is a key account, and took advantage of this free service we offer to all our large business customers. Our end goal is to improve our customers’ profitability, sustainability and competitiveness, which benefits the community through additional job creation, increased environmental sustainability and an improved business environment.”
Caison works with the Facilities and Operations Division and each facility’s representatives to evaluate their building’s envelope (or outer shell), lighting, HVAC systems and equipment performance to develop recommendations that support improvements in facility operations, maintenance and equipment. For schools already holding ENERGY STAR certification, Caison helps them maintain their scores and presents ideas for further improvements.
“GCPS is working hard to make energy efficiency a top priority,” says Caison. “At each audit, school representatives are proud of the efficiency measures they have implemented,” adding, “They understand the role everyone plays – students, staff and administration – to be energy conscious.”
Of schools that have not yet met ENERGY STAR certification, Caison says, “Our goal is to identify all energy saving measures. We identify opportunities and GCPS evaluates the payback to determine how to prioritize each recommendation.” Often, one recommendation may have System-wide application.
For example, as the result of findings in several Jackson EMC audits, GCPS evaluated the energy savings potential from a gymnasium lighting retrofit and has started replacing metal halide (MH) high-bay fixtures with energy efficient T5 high output (HO) fixtures.
“Jackson EMC is committed to the community and to our customers,” states Chapman. “We are proud to partner with all industrial, commercial and educational facility customers to help them become more energy efficient, teach them how to shed their power loads during peak usage times and to realize savings for their bottom lines. We congratulate Gwinnett County Public Schools for the well-deserved recognition they have received for energy efficiency.”
Chapman notes that the benefits from the GCPS partnership with Jackson EMC don’t end with energy audits. “In addition to energy savings, because these schools are served by a not-for-profit cooperative, each year GCPS receives a margin refund check from Jackson EMC – money left over after all the cooperative’s expenses have been paid. In 2012 alone, $47,500 was returned to GCPS.”
Learn more at www.jacksonemc.com.
