Local schools already are leaders in energy efforts. Administrators have made buildings efficient, introduced new technology and encouraged teachers to conserve energy.

But for some schools, it’s now the students’ turn.

“We felt the next step in the evolution of our energy program is getting students involved,” said Jay Wilson, energy manager for Warren County Public Schools.

The district has taken its energy-efficiency initiative to new heights. In 2003, school officials adopted an energy policy, which encourages all staff members to be proactive in saving energy.

Since then, the district has saved about $5.4 million in energy costs. That’s enough to save 87 teaching positions, and it’s projected to save $8.6 million and 178 teaching jobs over a 10-year period.

Now, each school is competing to make the best energy conservation effort – and thousands of dollars are at stake. This month, every county school is putting together an energy team through the Respect and Conserve Energy, or RACE, program.

Each team of students will monitor its school’s energy use. The students will educate their peers and faculty members about energy conservation and ways they can save energy at school. They will use internal energy audits and checklists to keep track of the energy their school consumes.

“They’ll be taking that leadership role and ownership in their building,” Wilson said.

Each school will be judged based on a point system. For example, teams can score up to 20 points for completing shutdowns – such as turning off lights and computers on a regular basis. They are partly scored based on how much they reduce electricity and water use in their building.

The winning high school and middle school will get $5,000 each, while the best elementary school gets $3,000 and the runner-up gets $2,000. The money can fund a myriad of purposes, from new equipment to field trips and pizza parties. The winners will be chosen around April.

It’s an incentive to get students excited about energy efficiency.

“Students understand that the switch turns the light on, but do they understand the source of the electricity and where it comes from,” Wilson said.

City district upgrades software

Bowling Green Independent Schools has also updated its energy initiatives. A few years ago, officials installed software that controls heating and air systems in each classroom. That software has now been upgraded and is accessible online, said Rickey Shive, facilities manager.

The computer system puts each classroom on a schedule, automatically turning each heating and cooling unit on and off at certain times during the day. Officials can monitor the amount of energy used in each classroom, Shive said.

“That’s one of the biggest things we have done that’s helped us control energy usage,” he said.

Over the past three years, the amount of electricity used in each school has dropped, he said.

“We’re seeing evidence in the last fiscal year, we had a pretty substantial BTU (British thermal unit) drop in each building,” he said. “So we’ve got to attribute that to some of the things we’re doing.”

School officials also asked vending machine suppliers to turn off lights in the machines. They have removed some light bulbs from lamps in the hallways. Workers installed energy-efficient windows at McNeill Elementary, Potter-Gray Elementary and 11th Street Alternative schools, with plans to replace windows at Dishman-McGinnis Elementary in the next year or two, Shive said.

Both the county and city districts have administrative energy teams that consist of central office staff, teachers and principals.

The city district has not yet implemented student teams, but it plans to in the near future and has developed several ideas to further save energy, Shive said.

The energy teams are part of a nationwide program sponsored by the National Energy Education Development Project. The nonprofit organization works to educate students and teachers about energy conservation. It has been working with Warren County Public Schools for a few years, and local teachers are using the organization’s curriculum to teach students about energy, said Karen Reagor, state director for the Kentucky NEED project.

“Classroom teachers are looking for anything that’s going to help support what’s taught in the classroom … there’s not a whole lot in the textbook that talks about energy,” Reagor said. “Our materials are updated every year, and current materials go into the schools every year.”

Energy Star ratings abound

The organization also encourages school districts to adopt its energy plan, which includes creating student teams. So far, five districts across the state, including Warren County, are establishing RACE teams. The organization hopes all Kentucky schools will one day have energy teams, Reagor said.

“Warren County is a leader in the state. They’ve got good leadership, good interest and the community is reaping the benefits,” she said. “We’ve been working with Warren County for quite some time, and they’ve done an excellent job of getting their facilities in great shape.”

In fact, 13 of the district’s 22 schools are Energy Star rated, meaning their features help save a significant amount of energy.

New buildings are getting recognition from across the globe for their green features. The new Richardsville Elementary School will be one of the first net-zero schools in the state, producing more energy than it uses.

The school is energized using solar panels and geothermal piping. The building, from the walls to the floors, was constructed with efficient materials and techniques.

Across the county, the new Bristow Elementary School is highly efficient and designed to be net zero. It’s layered with solar tubes and geothermal piping and is waiting for a state grant to fund installation of solar panels.

Existing schools have also been updated with green technology. At Cumberland Trace Elementary School, workers have installed solar tubes and ceiling prisms to help illuminate classrooms.

Alvaton Elementary also has snagged an Energy Star status. It’s insulated with concrete, which slices the amount of energy needed to heat and cool the building. It also uses a geothermal system, which eliminates the need for boilers and furnaces, Principal Mark Rathbun said.

“I just try to be sure to encourage our teachers and students that lights are off, especially at the end of the day,” he said, “to shut off computers and to not leave things on and running through the night.”

At T.C. Cherry Elementary School, workers also insulated walls with concrete and installed a highly efficient heating and cooling system called a variable refrigerant flow, Shive said.

Each classroom has solar tubes and light-reflecting window shades to naturally energize the rooms with sunlight.

“If you didn’t know any better, you’d think the lights were on,” he said. “On a sunlit day, it’s amazing the kind of light we’re able to pump into those classrooms.”

Energy conservation benefits everyone affiliated with the school system. It helps administrators better balance their budgets because it can dramatically reduce utility costs. It gives teachers tools and real-life scenarios to incorporate into the classroom, and it teaches students valuable lessons, Reagor said.

“We try to present a balanced perspective, giving students all the information to do their own investigations,” she said. “We’re all working together to improve and, by partnering together, we can have a healthier environment.”