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ROTTERDAM
Schools realize energy savings
Mohonasen hires Texas company
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

   In the quiet early hours, Jamie Dilbone sleuths through Mohonasen’s school buildings.
   The district’s part-time energy educator has walked the school’s darkened corridors in search of the soft whir of a computer fan in a lab or the dull sheen of a fluorescent light from beneath the crack of a closed door. He has monitored the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems closely to see if there are any spikes in usage — or anything that might add unnecessarily to the district’s energy costs.
   “Because at 2 a.m., you’re pretty sure you don’t need a lot running,” he said.
   His efforts are starting to pay off. Over 14 months, the school district has saved $407,486 that would have otherwise been spent on utilities.
   The district is one of many across the Capital Region realizing significant savings after contracting with Energy Education Inc., a Texas-based company dedicated to helping control consumption. School districts in Schenectady, Guilderland, South Colonie, Cohoes, Bethlehem, Voorheesville and Averill Park have all entered into agreements with the company.
   Mohonasen Central School District hired the company in November 2005, hoping to save a bit on the annual $1.5 million budgeted for energy. The $350,000 expenditure was spread into four payments during the seven-year contract.
   Energy Education representatives initially pledged Mohonasen would save $1.6 million over the course of the contract. With more than five years left, the district has saved roughly a quarter of this sum, realizing a 26 percent decline in its energy costs.
   “At first, it sounded to good too be true — you kind of think, ‘OK, what’s the catch?’ ” said Superintendent Kathleen Spring. “But it’s done everything that we hoped for and more.”
   The company first trained Dilbone, who also works as Mohonasen’s software systems specialist, and now monitors his progress in identifying areas where the district can save. These include regulating temperature and removing the bulbs from vending machines.
   “The most eye-opening thing is how all the little stuff adds up,” he said.
   But the energy conservation movement doesn’t mean students and faculty have been working in the cold or in the dark, Dilbone explained. For the most part, the savings come in teaching students and staff members to think outside the box when it comes to energy consumption.
   “It’s people changing habits and having them realize that we need to use energy when we need it and not when we don’t,” he said. “We haven’t made any major modifi cations other than changing the way people think about energy.”
   Spring said the district could see even more energy savings if a $19 million state-funded capital project is approved. Among other things, the project would replace ineffi - cient doors, windows and boilers. Members of the Board of Education are expected next week to approve scheduling a vote on the project for October.