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Shepherd Public Schools Energy Reduction Steps:
We have completed the following capital improvements to reduce energy:
- Replaced the steam boiler in the Shepherd Elementary building which was
approximately 40% efficient to a hot water boiler which is approximately 85%
efficient. Of all the projects completed, this was by far the largest saver
of energy. Not only is the boiler much more efficient, but also the steam
generated by this boiler was used to heat hot water in the newer section of
the building which is very inefficient. (Phase I - Summer 2004 and Phase II
- Summer 2006) Note that this boiler was over 40 years old and needed to be
replaced since it was at the end of its life cycle.
- Replace the heating system in the bus garage from a unit heater to a
radiant heat system. The old system would heat the air in the bus garage
but when the garage door was opened to take a bus in/out of the building,
all the warm air was lost. The new radiant heat system doesn't heat the air
but instead the objects in the bus garage so it is instantly warm when a bus
is taken in/out of the garage. The new system therefore doesn't need to
work near as hard as the old system saving energy. (Summer 2006)
- The High School hot water tank was dramatically larger than it needed to
be which would consume additional energy to heat the additional volume of
water. We changed this tank for a much smaller tank to save energy (Summer
2006)
- The Middle School hot water tank was dramatically larger than it needed to
be which would consume additional energy to heat the additional volume of
water. We changed this tank for a much smaller tank to save energy (Summer
2006)
- The Middle School boilers were replaced with more efficient boilers with
the efficiency increasing from 80% efficient to 96% efficient. This
included the replacement of the hot water boiler that had a similar increase
in efficiency. (Summer 2008) These boilers were at the end of their life
cycles and needed to be replaced.
- The District has been replacing light fixture throughout the District
from T12 florescent light fixtures to T8. These improvements have a payback
period of approximately 2 years. (Ongoing)
- The District has been installing sensors that automatically turn off
lights when there is no activity in places such as closets and hallways.
(Ongoing)
- The Middle School gym lights were replaced. The old lights were Metal
Halide which took about 15-20 minutes to turn on so they were left on all
day. Often these lights were accidently left on during the night, weekends,
etc. The new light fixtures are high intensity florescent which turn on
quickly and use dramatically less energy. The new fixtures also have
sensors which turn off the lights during times of inactivity. (Summer 2008)
- Automatic shut off valves in the high school locker rooms. Students
often left showers turned on for extended periods of time such as nights,
weekends, etc. (Summer 2005)
- During the winter, buses are plugged in to warm the engine block so they
start easier. We use to leave them plugged in around the clock when they
were not in use. The Accounts Payable Bookkeeper noticed a dramatic
increase in electric usage at the bus garage at the beginning of the heating
season. We found that plugging the buses in cost approximately $900 per
month. We installed timers for these circuits and reduced this cost to
approximately $200 per month. Now the timers turn on the electricity to
these buses just 2 or 3 hours before they are used in the morning. (January
2008)
We have also worked to change behavior to save energy. Some of the things
that we have done are as follows:
- We have asked employees to turn off lights whenever they leave a
classroom even if it is for a short period of time.
- We have begun to stress recycling. We have just begun to implement this
but it is catching on quickly.
- We have asked employees to turn off their computers when not in use. The
main server has been programmed to shut down any computer left on at the end
of the day.
- All the boilers in the district are connected to a central computer which
turns down the heat in the evenings and on the weekends.
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Half day for students and staff (End of Trimester) |
| Thu - Nov 26 -- Fri - Nov 27 |
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No School -- Thanksgiving Break |
