Energy Conservation

The most valuable unit of energy is the one never produced.

Mission

The SAISD energy conservation program will sustain safe, comfortable school environments conducive to learning while ensuring efficient use of facilities and resources and reducing the district’s environmental impact.  

The SAISD energy conservation program is a comprehensive, sustainable plan designed to address behavioral, mechanical and logistical use of our facilities in an effort to reduce consumption, save money on utility bills and be good stewards of taxpayer funds. 

RESULTS

Since the current energy conservation program began in 2014, SAISD has reduced consumption by an average of 29%, with an average annual utility cost savings of over $700,000.

SAISD campuses have also earned the ENERGY STAR Award in 2017, 2021, and 2023, which signifies that the buildings perform in the top 25 percent of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency and meet strict energy efficiency performance levels set by the EPA.

CONSERVATION COORDINATORS

Conservation coordinators Steve Van Hoozer and Robert Rumph work with school staff to ensure efficient use of facilities. Their duties include:

• Audit buildings to ensure proper functioning of mechanical equipment and track building usage patterns
• Track and analyze energy consumption for every building
• Monitor billing cycles from utility providers
• Monitor building conditions and respond to all comfort requests to ensure quality learning environments
• Generate reports on energy usage and utility budget impact

Sonia Gutierrez, the Energy Management Specialist collaborates with the Conservation Coordinators. The duties of the Energy Management Specialist include:
•    Compile the district board report that details usage/costs per utility and campus
•    Inspect bills for discrepancies
•    Communicate with vendors
•    Ensure that payments for district-wide utilities are covered
•    Create spreadsheets to analyze and compare costs in previous years
•    Generate reports to verify district savings