District Funds Energy Conservation Program through Savings

A school district in Oklahoma has just kicked off a project to save $2.5 million in energy costs over five years by applying technology and behavior-based conservation programs. Edmond Public Schools has 17 elementary schools, six middle schools, three high schools, two alternative high school programs and an early childhood center. The school system signed the contract in June for the program, which incorporates a full-time energy manager to help monitor energy efficiencies and promote the importance of energy conservation among staff and students.

Several schools have already installed HVAC updates that has enabled the district to recoup "significant energy savings, as well as receive rebates," according to Chief Operations Office Justin Coffelt.

Now administrators will work with Cenergistic, a Texas-based energy conservation company, to audit and optimize energy-consuming systems throughout the district. The program is funded solely by the savings it generates.

"We are committed to being good stewards of public funds and since partnering with Cenergistic does not require a capital investment, it just makes sense," said Superintendent Bret Towne, in a prepared statement.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • blue AI cloud connected to circuit lines, a server stack, and a shield with a padlock icon

    Report: AI Security Controls Lag Behind Adoption of AI Cloud Services

    According to a recent report from cybersecurity firm Wiz, nearly nine out of 10 organizations are already using AI services in the cloud — but fewer than one in seven have implemented AI-specific security controls.

  • stacks of glowing digital documents with circuit patterns and data streams

    Mistral AI Intros Advanced AI-Powered OCR

    French AI startup Mistral AI has announced Mistral OCR, an advanced optical character recognition (OCR) API designed to convert printed and scanned documents into digital files with "unprecedented accuracy."

  • robot waving

    Copilot Updates Aim to Personalize AI

    Microsoft has introduced a range of updates to its Copilot platform, marking a new phase in its effort to deliver what it calls a "true AI companion" that adapts to individual users' needs, preferences and routines.

  • teenager interacts with a chatbot on a computer screen

    Character.AI Rolls Out New Parental Insights Feature Amid Safety Concerns

    Chatbot platform Character.AI has introduced a new Parental Insights feature aimed at giving parents a window into their children's activity on the platform. The feature allows users under 18 to share a weekly report of their chatbot interactions directly with a parent's e-mail address.