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Greenbytes: October 14, 2004 Edition
In this IssueGreetings from EPA New England. We hope you find this edition of Greenbytes useful and we encourage you to give us feedback. For information on subscribing or unsubscribing see the section at the end of this message.
Changing light bulbs and tracking energy bills is not glitzy stuff, but for the Warwick School Department, these kinds of actions are adding up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in energy savings each year. Under the direction of energy manager Robert Cerio, the Warwick School Department in Warwick, RI has slashed its energy bills by 25 percent -- or more than $2 million -- over the past five years. Warwick's success is the result of a top-to-bottom commitment, from the school committee and superintendent down to the custodial staff and teachers, to make energy efficiency and energy education a 24/7 endeavor. Making the necessary up-front investments in staffing, software and technical assistance have been important, too. One of Cerio's first projects was replacing more than 1,000 incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lights that are four times more energy efficient. The new Energy Star bulbs have cut the school district's electricity bills by $21,500 a year. Cerio has also made tremendous use of energy management software that tracks and compares energy use in school buildings and provides cost-benefit analyses on options for reducing energy use. Cerio spends about 20 percent of his time entering and analyzing monthly bills for water, electricity and energy use in the district's 29 buildings. The information has enabled him to find dozens of energy-savings projects. The school district has also found ways to buy electricity more cheaply. Warwick is among a dozen school districts in Rhode Island that buys its electricity through a group organized by the RI Association of School Committees. The group pays 5.6 cents per kilowatt hour for its electricity, dramatically lower than the 6.8 cents per KWH standard offer that Narragansett Electric was charging last fall. The aggregate purchase saved the school district over $100,000 last year. Additional savings have been found by purchasing heating oil on the futures market. In spring 2003, for example, the school district locked in a contract to pay 87 cents a gallon for all heating oil delivered in winter 2003-04. By avoiding spot market purchases, the school district saved $130,000 last winter. And, lastly, the Warwick School Department has developed 'green' bid specifications to ensure that energy-efficiency measures are included in all new buildings constructed under the city's new $28 million bond issue for new schools. While many school districts in New England are using utility rebates and other programs to make energy-saving upgrades in existing building, there's also a growing push to bring energy conservation and renewable power into new school buildings. Massachusetts and Maine are leading the way on the high-performance school front, offering design and construction grants for qualifying schools that meet specific energy-efficiency criteria. The "Green Schools Initiative" in Massachusetts has provided $12 million in grants for 18 new schools. The grants include up to $130,000 per school for design work and up to $500,000 per school for construction, with 70 percent earmarked for renewable projects and 30 percent for energy efficiency work. Schools that have participated so far have, on average, been 30 percent more energy efficient than traditional buildings, resulting in annual net savings on energy bills of $60,000. Maine's High Performance School Program, launched last year, provides design grants of up to $20,000 and construction grants of up to $100,000 to encourage energy efficiency at new public schools. Eighteen schools are already in the pipeline for funding, including two that have already been built. In addition, Maine recently approved a new state rule requiring new school and state buildings in the state to be at least 20 percent more energy efficient in order to qualify for state construction assistance. For more information about EPA's energy efficiency programs, including its Energy Star benchmarking tool for school buildings, visit the agency's web site at www.epa.gov/region1/topics/envpractice/eefficiency.html For information about the Green Schools Initiative in Massachusetts,
visit
www.mtpc.org/RenewableEnergy/green_schools.htm.
Press Releases ME Community College System Faces Fines for Hazardous Waste Violations Groups Receive Environmental Education Grants EPA Proposes $40,000 Penalty for Wastewater Treatment Violations in Holyoke CT Fabric Manufacturer to Pay $95,200 for Clean Air Act Violations EPA and Worcester Officials Tour $32M Revitalization Project in Worcester EPA and DEP Approve Cleanup Plan for Iron Horse Park Superfund Site in N. Billerica EPA and DES Approve Final Cleanup Plan for Dover Municipal Landfill in Dover, NH EPA Proposes $55,000 Penalty Against RI Company for PCB Violations in CT EPA and DEP to Take No Further Cleanup Actions at Superfund Site in Wolcott, CT Operator of Revere Oil Terminal Pays $50,000 Penalty for Failing to Get Storm Water Permit EPA and MA DEP Approve Final Cleanup Plan for Shpack Landfill Site in Norton Hartford, CT Property Owner Agrees to $240,000 Settlement in Lead Paint Disclosure Case New England States Experienced Fewer Smog Days During Recent Summer Taunton Heating Oil Company to Pay $5,000 for Violations of Oil Regulations NH Real Estate Developer and Contractor to Settle Clean Water Act Case EPA Begins Full Scale Dredging of Contaminated Sediment from New Bedford Harbor EPA Seeking Applications for Environmental Education Grants CT's Second "No Discharge Area" Designated off the Coast of Groton/Mystic
Events and conferences are not archived. Please refer to the Regional Calendar for upcoming events and conferences.
Acid Rain - latest data posted Air Quality - latest regional report posted Barkhamsted-New Hartford Landfill Superfund Site - reuse assessment Brownfields - new success stories CEIT Storm Water and Wastewater Virtual Trade Show - updated info Dover Landfill Superfund Site - administrative record posted Eastland Woolen Mill Superfund Site - administrative record posted Environmental Education - 2004 grant summaries Environmental Justice - updated grants and action plan GE Pittsfield - new meeting schedule posted Healthcare in New England - updated text Iron Horse Park Superfund Site - rod added Kearsarge Metallurgical Corp Superfund Site - reuse assessment New London Submarine Base Superfund Site - proposed plan No Discharge Areas - new no discharge area in nutmeg state NPDES - potw draft general permit posted Nutmeg Valley Road Superfund Site - rod posted Performance Track - Updated list of performance track facilities Shpack Landfill Superfund Site - administrative record posted Storm Water - nois added to site Sylvester Superfund Site - 5 year report added Tinkham Garage Superfund Site - reuse assessment and fact sheet added Urban Program - updated grant writeups
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