Beech Tree News Network

Nearly $729,913 energy savings since 2004
Butler County Schools has achieved ENERGY STAR status for each of its four schools in 2015.  In 2011, Butler County Schools became the first district in Kentucky to achieve the ENERGY STAR award for each school in the district.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) prestigious ENERGY STAR is the national symbol for protecting the environment through superior energy efficiency.  This signifies that the building performs in the top 25 percent of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency.
“Achieving ENERGY STAR status for all schools in the district has taken incredible hard work and commitment from the district,” said Jarrad Vowels, account manager with Harshaw Trane.  “The staff took on the task of developing, initiating and following through with many energy saving measures that have shown them to be great stewards of the tax payers money, while helping provide a brighter future for the children of Butler County.”

Since 2004, Butler County Schools has saved approximately $729,913 in realized energy savings.  This is the equivalent of 1,606 cars not driven for one year, 17,748 barrels of oil not burned or 59 acres of forest saved from deforestation.
Two phases of performance contracting, or guaranteed savings contracts, were implemented to address energy and comfort issues in Butler County High School, Butler County Middle School, Morgantown Elementary, and North Butler Elementary.  Intelligent Services, Harshaw Trane’s real-time energy and performance monitoring program, was employed to ensure proper system operation and to drive additional savings.  Harshaw Trane and Butler County School District leveraged their long-standing relationship to ensure that the older buildings, as well as the new elementary school, were all integrated with the existing Tracer Summit system and provided a comfortable learning environment for both staff and students.
“Our goal is to be the best, and that aligns with Harshaw Trane’s same goal.  This allowed us to save nearly $800,000 in energy savings, savings we can put toward other important district needs,” said Jimmy Arnold, Energy Manager with Butler County Schools.