Brighton Area Schools Receive Energy Stewardship Award

After only a year and a half in an energy conservation program, Brighton Area Schools have cut its energy usage by a little more than 22 percent for a total savings of $471,304.

Mike Betar, regional president of Energy Education, presented a Energy Stewardship Award award to Brighton Area Schools Director of Operations Matt Morino, who then presented it to the Board of Education during its meeting Monday night.

"This percentage comes from behavior change," Morino said. "We didn't purchase new equipment or install new equipment. This comes from consolidating rentals and basically behavior change from staff, custodians, maintenance personnel and administrators to improve savings and efficiencies in our buildings."

The Stewardship Award recognizes good stewardship resulting in a positive impact on the environment, including decreased carbon emissions and the conservation of natural resources.

Energy Education builds customized energy conservation programs for school districts, high education institutions and large churches to help reduce the consumption of electricity, natural gas, fuel, oil and water.

The savings are calculated by using the 2009-2010 school year as a base period, but the weather is also factored in.

"Just because we have a warm winter doesn't mean we're going to save additional dollars," Superintendent Greg Gray said. "The percentages are adjusted for the temperatures."

Morino said that with the warm weather this week, if temperatures hit 70 degrees, then he will be turning on the cooling system a full month earlier than he did last year.

The district's energy savings goes into a maintenance fund to pay for repairs and parts as needed by the district buildings.