Sheboygan school district lauded for saving energy

From an article by Doug Carroll in the The Sheboygan Press:

Fail to turn off the lights or close the door in the Sheboygan Area School District, and Gene Gasper just might fail you.

Gasper, the district's energy manager for the past 2½ years, has the responsibility of educating the educators on energy use. He knows the district's schools inside and out. Those needing to watch things more carefully usually hear from him in the form of a "building report card."

He's getting results. Already, nine of the district's 20 schools have been certified as Energy Star award winners, ranking in the top 25 percent nationally for energy conservation among schools of similar description. Factors include a school's size, location, enrollment, number of computers, air-conditioning capacity and lighting specifications.

The district's winners are Cooper, Jackson, Jefferson, Lincoln-Erdman, Pigeon River, Sheridan and Wilson elementary schools and Farnsworth and Horace Mann middle schools. The announcement of the awards was made Tuesday night at the regular meeting of the Sheboygan School Board.

Only 117 schools in Wisconsin and 1,003 in the country have received the Energy Star designation as part of a joint program of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy.

It's a feather in the cap for the district, which committed in the fall of 2005 to an energy education program and claims it has saved 24 percent in energy costs over two years, even with an additional 330,000 square feet in facilities. Most of the savings are realized when buildings are empty of staff and students and can be shut down at least partially.

For example, about $275 a year is saved when a computer is turned off during non-school hours.

"It's a combination of education and management," said Gasper, 61, who has been with the district for 24 years. "You educate them to be more efficient and cost-conscious with lighting and heat."