An education in efficiency

Abington Journal

April 30, 2008

Districts say energy costs are ‘huge part’ of budgets; professor teaches importance of ‘green’ architecture

By Christopher J. Hughes chughes@theabingtonjournal.com

Editor’s note: “Green Scene” is a five-part series of The Abington Journal looking locally at energy efficiency initiatives. This week, take a tour of the efforts of local school districts and a university architecture program.

The Abington Heights School District could consider geothermal energy as an avenue to offset rising energy costs at the Middle School. Shown outside the school’s main entrance are Eighth Grade Student Council members, from left, front row: Mary Kate Gallagher, Cate Hartman, Jenna Jaloweic and Brandon Sochovka. Back row: Jordan Hughes, A.J. Cerra, Mark Garbin, Kaitlin Kulp, Nicole Kozar, Devin Gerber, Brendan Larar and Aaron Shapiro. Absent from photo are Michael Post and Jessica Machler.

Abington Journal Photo/Christopher J. Hughes

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CLARKS SUMMIT – Reviewing Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, Abington Heights Superintendent Dr. Michael Mahon tracks energy use in buildings across the district. During Mahon’s time with the district, he said energy costs have been closely monitored on a monthly basis.

Costs in the district are projected and adjusted, based on yearly weather conditions, in order to develop a base cost. Costs for electric utilities have almost always been lower than the projected rate.

“That tells us that some of the things we’ve been doing have been working,” Mahon said.

Some of those initiatives happened before his arrival, he said, including upgrades to heating systems and retrofitting lighting fixtures at the high school.

“From everything I’ve seen, it’s been a big part of our district’s history to be very conscious about our energy use,” Mahon said. “It’s a huge part of our budget, and it’s one of those areas where there’s savings to be had and you do your best to balance the upfront costs of what you’re doing with long-term savings.”

Annually, the district spends $525,000 in electricity bills, $260,000 for gas and $17,000 in oil, according to Mahon.

Watching their rates

Tracking monthly costs has proved effective for Abington Heights, especially recently, as district officials have seen a rise in energy use at Abington Heights Middle School.

“The Middle School is our only (fully) electric building. There’s no gas (heat),” Mahon said. “Right now, our rates from PPL are good. I don’t think we could do any better with respect to energy.”

However, the district, along with other businesses and residents throughout the area, are beginning to brace for a jump in electricity rates at the end of 2009, when state-imposed rate caps expire. Rates are expected to rise by at least 30 percent when the cap ends.

“We are looking at units that aren’t as efficient or not running as well as when they were brand new, coupled with a very significant increase in our electrical costs. We’re saying we should act now to do something about this,” he said.

Among the avenues under consideration to combat rising costs at the Middle School is geothermal energy, although Mahon said the idea is “in the earliest stages of investigation.” Geothermal energy is defined by the United States Energy Information Administration as “hot water or steam extracted from geothermal reservoirs in the earth’s crust. Water or steam extracted from geothermal reservoirs can be used for geothermal heat pumps, water heating or electricity generation.” Pump systems use the constant 50 to 60 degree temperature of the Earth’s crust to heat buildings in the winter and cool them in the summer.

“We’re looking at it cautiously with an eye toward the spike in electrical rates and aging rooftop units,” Mahon, said of the possibility of geothermal energy. “We’ve had some people (Reading-based CM3 Building Solutions) go out to monitor the efficiency of what we’re doing, and we’re gathering data.”

Mahon said that the district has not placed a timeline on deciding on geothermal or any other energy solutions for the Middle School. The goal, he said, is to fully inform the board of the options at hand to make the most educated decision for the district.

Rising electricity rates aside, the district also offsets annual costs by purchasing gas in bulk to avoid fluctuating market prices. “Our gas prices are locked in through the summer (of 2008), and they’re locked in at a point that is lower than the going rate at the time. We’ve been very fortunate in that over the last few years,” Mahon said.

Over the course of the summer, the district also purchased EduLog, software intended to reorganize bus routes in the district. In 2006-07, Abington Heights spent $1.4 million on transportation, including buses, vans, fuel and driver contracts. “Our hope is that, as we get experience with this (new software), we can use this software to improve the efficiency of our bus routes to ultimately save costs and improve our services.” Improving services could mean a thorough reorganization or elimination of some bus routes to save time and fuel consumption for district buses.

At Lackawanna Trail, officials like Business Manager David Homish said that looking ahead has saved a great deal in the district. When the Lackawanna Trail Elementary Center and Junior/Senior High School were renovated in the early 1990s as part of a $350,000 project, surveys of electric utilities and boilers were positive, Homish said.

To further their savings, Lackawanna Trail entered an energy saving agreement with PPL five years ago that replaced several decade-old light fixtures and bulbs with more efficient equals. While the district was energy efficient to start, Homish said rates in the first year following the replacements dropped approximately 16 percent, resulting in continued annual savings of more than $25,000 for the district.

Building for the future

Meanwhile, students at Marywood University are learning the business and design of what it means to be green.

Dunmore resident Maria MacDonald, associate professor of arts and coordinator of the interior architecture program in the university’s College of Creative Arts and Management, has made significant curriculum changes at Marywood to include the idea of sustainable design in all core classes. The United States General Services Administration describes the goals of sustainable design as “…to reduce consumption of non-renewable resources, minimize waste and create healthy, productive environments.”

“The students, as all of us do, have to be more thoughtful and aware of the impact we have on the environment,” MacDonald said. “They have to look deeper and work harder to find renewable resources. It’s not as simple as saying that a home will have a wood floor now. You have to do a bit more research when building and designing.”

Concern for global climate change has truly changed the profession of architecture design, MacDonald said. Some structures being built currently are engineering marvels, harnessing various natural resources such as wind or sunlight to be fully self-sustainable buildings.

As the students answer the challenge, so do the companies that provide materials. “Luckily the revolution is happening now, and companies are complying,” MacDonald said. “The more mainstream this is becoming, the more the prices will come down. We’re getting there. People are often resistant to change, but this next generation has responded well.”

Choices for homebuilders and designers are also changing. Carpeting is now sold with a green seal of approval from the United States Green Building Council. Volatile organic compounds are prohibited in paints. Cork and bamboo, more easily renewable woods, are being installed in homes. And state and local governments nationwide are adopting LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System initiative for new and existing structures.

“I’m so proud of them,” MacDonald said, of her students. “It’s inspiring to see what they do. Each student wants to take responsibility in good design, and they approach each project with the environment in mind.”