Energy Conservation Challenge Guide
Contents
1. 56 84 112 126 168 Hours Weekday assumes the device is turned off for the weekend There are 36 weeks per school year Saving Energy Lighting Toing ZA BOSTON hagas Focus on Children Turn on only as many overheads light as are necessary for the task at hand but favor the use of free daylight first by opening window shades Natural light has many health and productivity benefits whereas over lighting has been linked to various health problems including difficulty sleeping Contrary to conventional wisdom it has been shown that open window shades do not contribute to unfocused students and may in fact decrease distraction Of course you should be sure to close your shades again at the end of the day to help insulate your room from cold winter nights Remove unneeded floor and table lamps to avoid overlighting Bulb Replacement Replace the incandescent bulbs in any lamps with more efficient CFL or LED bulbs The three bulbs below all produce a comparable quantity and quality of light yet the LED only uses one sixth 4 the power of a traditional bulb You would burn through 20 incandescent bulbs before you needed to change your first LED Using conventionally generated electricity the incandescent bulbs would emit 1 800 pounds of carbon dioxide compared to 300 pounds for the LED Incandescent Compact Fluorescent CFL Light Emitting Diode LED K ii 60 Watts 1 200 hour lifespan 13 Watt2. 8 Z BOSTON f Pablic Schools 9 SAVING ENERGY MAKE SENSE fey Focus on Children Contents Contacts e Getting Started Phoebe Beierle Sustainability Manager e Surveying Energy Use Qualitative Audit pbeierle bostonpublicschools org 617 635 9138 e Calculating Energy Use Quantitative Audit e Saving Energy Lighting Energy Conservation Challenge Website e Saving Energy Heating http bostongreenschools org ener e Saving Energy Computers Mn e Next Steps This development of this Toolkit EVERS URCE e Power Down Fridays was made possible by ENERGY Background According to the City of Boston Municipal Greenhouse Gas Inventory Fiscal Years 2005 2013 Boston Public Schools consume nearly as much energy as all other departments combined If the City is to meet its greenhouse gas emission goals of a 25 reduction by 2020 and 80 by 2050 Boston Public Schools must rise to the challenge This call to action was echoed in Mayor Walsh s Climate Action Plan and in response Boston Green Schools is rolling out a number of initiatives to reduce resource consumption in our schools Energy use in a typical American school Electricity Natural gas Cooking Water Refrigeration 1 heating 4 1 Cooking Space heating Other 4 5 6 Lighting Water Ventilation 26 heating 7 8 Other 10 Office equipment 20 Cooling 26 Space heating 82 Courtesy ESOURCE from Commercial Building Energy Consu
3. student in e inc s Kids Green Their School shares her school s energy saving progress 10
4. will be rewarded financially for their efforts and a large awards ceremony will be held for the schools that reduce the most 4PM Friday through 6AM Monday amounts to 62 hours of the 168 hours in a week 9 Power Down Fridays aa Fa BOSTON BOSTON ic Schools Focus on Children Introduction Power down Fridays are a great mechanism for combining staff and student concern for the environment with friendly competition channeling everyone s efforts into a concrete goal Steps 1 Advertise your plans for a Power down Friday campaign to the school especially the custodians so that they understand the purpose of your program and don t accidentally undo your power down efforts Many schools have found custodial staff to be some of the most enthusiastic supporters of Power down Fridays Assemble a Green Team to conduct the weekly sweep of the school 3 Prepare support materials to help classroom teachers remember how to power down their rooms Typical items include an appliance checklist which you might customize based on classroom audits and a door hanger Door hangers can be used to signal your team that rooms have already been powered down and serve as a reminder for custodial staff Here s a downloadable door hanger template Other ideas are reusable thank you notes flyers to leave as reminders for unengaged rooms and posters or switch plate plaques Let your students get creative and design artwork and messages for your
5. Power down Fridays campaign materials 4 Provide your power down team with a generic but broad checklist to use when sweeping the school It is best if the same group check the same rooms from week to week so that they can track how well each room is powered down and leave notes or flyers at their discretion Use scratch paper to leave custom notes thanking classes for their continued participation If participation begins to flag provide gentle reminders of how well they have done in the past or how thorough their neighbors are 5 Celebrate successes and let the school know how the effort is progressing Highlight the efforts of your team and classrooms that are powering down well a Students might produce and post charts of the number of devices left on each week classrooms that were pre powered down etc b BPS Facilities will provide you with monthly reports of your school wide energy use with a historic average for comparison Additional Resources e Eversource Energy Education Opportunities http eversource e smartonline net teachers php e Alliance for Climate Education offers free assemblies for high schools http www acespace org e elnc partners with Boston Green Schools to offer multiple sustainability programs http einc action org e RenewBoston offers free home energy audits http renewboston org e Greenovate Boston is the City s sustainability hub http greenovateboston org A
6. although some people are sensitive to it and may suffer eye strain as a result Fluorescent lighting can be checked for this effect using spinning tops called flicker checkers which are printed with a special pattern There is an optional line in the lighting section of qualitative survey to track the results of these tests Contact Jerrad Pierce jpierce4 bostonpublicschools org to borrow Flicker Checkers Personal Appliances Personal appliances are not permitted in BPS classrooms Superintendent memorandum on energy conservation e A Ba E La a Cea CHALG Calculating Energy Use arning Z BOSTON green Focus on Children Looking Deeper A more thorough investigation of the energy used in your school can be conducted to determine the energy use of most devices appliances including plug loads and vampire or phantom electricity usage Phantom load is the electricity consumed by appliances that are supposed to be off Examples of phantom load include appliances with extra clocks or status lights power adapters and receivers for remote controls Power strips can be used to make it easier to deal with hard to reach outlets and the plugging and unplugging of multiple devices Kill a Watt electricity monitors di a can be checked out from the Boston Public Library Boston Green Schools also has a few available for loan and they readily available at hardware store or online at EFI If you are unable to proc
7. can consume more power than 100 energy efficient light bulbs potentially overload circuits and are a common cause of fire 1 Insure that vents and radiators are unobstructed to allow proper air flow and heat distribution This is your source of heat Move bookshelves and other furniture away from radiators and remove any materials piled atop them such as backpacks or coats 2 As you are probably aware from the humid summers in our region Moist air holds heat STN better than dry air and our bodies are also able to sense the heat in humid air more LHF effectively than that of dry air Ultrasonic humidifiers can be an efficient way to add moisture to the air in a space but avoid warm mist humidifiers which can use 5 times as much energy The simplest way to select a good humidifier is to look for the EnergyStar logo ENERGY STAR 3 Dressing appropriately can also help insure personal comfort and save energy Wear long sleeves and dress in layers so that you can adjust your clothing as needed 4 Heat rises Unfortunately you and your students spend most of your time closer to the cool floor than the hot ceiling If you room is equipped with a ceiling fan running the fan can reduce heating load 15 by mixing the air near the ceiling which may be 10 20 warmer into the rest of the room In order to work the fan blades should be turning clockwise instead of the counter clockwise necessary for summer cooling Contact your buil
8. ding maintenance staff if you need the fan direction changed 5 Make note of broken windows and leaky doors Request that your school administration submit work orders to have these items fixed SC gt 1 LGL 32 R 2 Diagram of airflow with ceiling fan to redistribute heat in winter reverse mode gt OSHA advisory about space heaters in the workplace http www compliance gov forms pubs eresources fastfacts spaceheaters pdf 7 BOSTON ABOSTOI Public Schools Focus on Children Saving Energy Computers A typical desktop computer and LCD monitor consume 100 Watts W of electricity when powered on and awake even when not in use an old fashioned TV like CRT monitor adds an additional 50 W Computers can be configured to reduce their energy consumption when not in use Using special software available for Windows and Macintosh OSX computers called Faronics Power Save which helps save energy by automatically powering down the monitor and or computer Coordinate with Boston Green Schools or OIIT to roll out Faronics Power Save to all of the computers at your school We will make arrangements so that you can have students install the software themselves This student engagement in the Energy Conservation Challenge provides a sense of accomplishment Foronics FOWERSAVE By default Faronics Power Save offers coarse energy savings settings and usually puts your computer to sleep after 2 hours without use I
9. ductory Lessons Boston Green Schools has reviewed a wide variety of energy related lesson plans online and selected a few that it recommends for use as an introduction or later in depth exploration of the subject with your students http bostongreenschools org programs energy conservation curricula Of particular note is the Switch Energy Project as a DVD from Boston Green Schools or streaming with this password ener9yedtcation Jerrad Pierce the Boston Green Schools Energy Conservation Specialist is also available for classroom visits to help conduct a sample classroom audit or provide other support as needed jpierce4 bostonpublicschools org Pledge to Conserve It is recommended that near the beginning of the Energy Conservation Challenge that you and your students draft and sign a pledge to conserve energy and water Examples include individual pledges or a classroom declaration Post this pledge outside your classroom for all to see This type of commitment to action has multiple benefits including advertising your efforts to others and providing a subtle psychological incentive to follow through Good times to compose a pledge are 1 After a particularly compelling lesson or presentation on the importance of energy in our lives in order to harness newfound student enthusiasm for the topic or 2 After audits have been conducted so that you may outline specific actions you will take this is another psychological technique to insure foll
10. form a quantitative survey Calculating Energy Use after a qualitative energy survey 1 Begin by downloading the Conservation Guide Worksheets companion to this guide http bostongreenschools org wp content uploads 2015 01 Conservation Guide Worksheets xlsx OR http bostongreenschools org wp content uploads 2015 01 Conservation Guide Worksheets pdf Print copies of the Qualitative Survey worksheet tab in the Conservation Guide Worksheets spreadsheet 3 Have teams of students complete the Survey to assess the condition and use of classrooms and common areas e g halls library cafeteria and gymnasium Additional things to check for are e Overhead lighting flicker and efficiency see Flicker Checker below e Stairwell and hallway doors that are propped open Closed doors reduce drafts and provide fire protection e Deciduous plants to shade southern amp western sides of building during the warmer months e Conifers on the windward side of building to protect the building in the winter 4 Collect and collate the survey results then examine them as a group to look for patterns and room for improvement be sure to save the results for use again later 5 Plan your Next Steps How will you share the results and what actions will you take to make improvements Flicker Checker Older fluorescent lights use an energy inefficient means of controlling the bulbs that creates flicker Bulb flicker is usually not visible directly
11. mption Survey 1999 data in U S EPA ENERGY STAR Building Upgrade Manual 2008 Energy Conservation Challenge You are probably familiar with the mantra You Can t Manage What You Don t Measure We take this to heart at BPS Facilities Management and that s why we are excited to partner with school leaders to Save Energy amp Earn Money for their schools Participating schools that reduce their energy use by 5 or more over their baseline usage will receive a rebate for the savings and an awards ceremony will be held to acknowledge the schools that achieved the greatest savings This Energy Conservation Guide offers targeted support and educational resources to engage students and staff at your school By working together at BPS though this Energy Conservation Challenge we can educate students help save energy reduce utility costs and make positive impacts on the environment all at the same time Getting Started aming Z BOSTON ireen Focus on Children Getting the Word Out The more people that know about the Energy Conservation Challenge the better success you will have at reaching your Savings goals Let the rest of the community at your school know about ways to take part e Bring it up at staff meetings e Include it ina morning announcement e Feature it in your school newsletter e Share it with your PTA PTO More tips for advertising can be found in Green Teams below and under Next Steps on page 9 Intro
12. nitors and can actually increase energy use because the computer has to work to generate the various animations it is displaying EEE eee gape Z ROSTO Public bee reer Focus on Children Next Steps Signage Signs to remind staff and students to conserve are a powerful way to reinforce behavior s MPLE Tp SAVE ENERGY amp WATER AT SCHOOL change The downloadable poster at right features tips to conserve resources however you may want to have students create their own posters and or switch plate plaques Consider catchy slogans like Save Energy amp Earn Money e You re bright so turn off the light e Not in use Cut the juice Daily Involvement In many classrooms students have assigned tasks to help the teacher reset the classroom at the end of the day such as putting chairs up erasing the board etc Consider adding a Lights Out or Power Down leadership role for students Power Down Fridays Power down Fridays are a concept developed by students at Henderson High School in West Chester PA The idea behind them is to focus effort on ensuring that unneeded devices around the school are turned off at the end of the day on Friday This can have a dramatic impact on energy use by eliminating wasteful consumption since the weekend amazingly accounts for more than one third of the hours in a week Learn more about Power down Fridays on page 10 Repeat amp Report Several weeks after performing your ini
13. nt a few copies for students Collect and collate the survey results Examine your findings as a group to look for patterns and room for improvement be sure to save the results for use again later 4 The City of Boston purchases electricity from 100 renewable sources but most consumers do not You might find it interesting as a class to calculate the difference in and emissions cost for the total electricity consumed by the devices you measured using the default supplier values included on the first worksheet of the guide spreadsheet 5 Plan your Next Steps How will you share the results and what actions will you take to make improvements BOSTON Fa ROSTO Public Schools Focus on Children Plug Load Reference Sheet Using a Kill a Watt Energy Monitor 1 Turn off the device appliance to be measured Unplug the device Plug the device into the energy monitor and plug that into the wall or power strip Press the Watt VA button KILL A WATT Note the wattage listed spo F F Turn on the device i Note the wattage listed once the numbers become stable vor Watt nz KWN a p o oR Turn off the device and plug it back in as it originally was U U U Hour Using a Kill a Watt EZ Energy Monitor 1 Turn off the device appliance to be measured Unplug the device Plug the device into the energy monitor and plug that into the wall or power strip 1 f Press the Down button until the display reads Watt No
14. ow through Form a Green Team If there is sufficient interest from students and or insufficient class time to devote to conservation efforts you might consider forming a Green Team The resources below are especially useful when founding a Green Team but may be helpful for classroom based efforts as well e Alliance for Climate Education Action Team Tools http www acespace org startactionteam e MA Dept of Env Protection Green Team Registration http www thegreenteam org forms registration e MA Dept of Env Protection Green Team Tools http www thegreenteam org the green team kit e Efficiency VT K 12 Guide https www efficiencyvermont com docs for my business k 12 K 12 guide pdf Note that this material can be integrated with many subject areas including math science ELA social studies and health If you would like assistance with this please contact us we will be happy to help 2 Surveying Energy Use arning amp BOSTON Public Schools a Focus on Children Classroom Walk through Once you have your pledge and green team in place the next step is to review your school s current energy consumption The initial qualitative survey can be conducted to gauge overall energy behavior of staff and students and energy use across the building It is especially useful if you have time constraints or are working with younger students However if you have the time it is recommended that you per
15. s 10 000 hour lifespan 10 Watts 25 000 hour lifespan Light produced by a glowing hot wire Light produced by vaporized metal Light produced by a silicon chip Most energy is wasted as heat Special clean up required if broken Less fragile than other bulbs Low cost replacement CFL amp LED bulbs are often available with instant rebate at hardware and drug stores as well as these alternatives e EFI a non profit reseller of efficiency products http www energyfederation org consumer default php e Bulb replacement fundraiser http www nstar com residential energy efficiency school programs Lighting Levels Excessive lighting increases glare and wastes electricity Strategic Energy Innovations has created a guide to help you evaluate the amount of lighting in various spaces and consider whether you should remove some bulbs a k a delamp http www public asu edu kroel www558 Daylighting 20in 20schools 20paper pdf http files eric ed gov fulltext ED343686 pdf BOSTON Z BOSTON Schools Focus on Children Saving Energy Heating There is no question that we must endure the bitter cold of New England winters whenever we venture outside but there s no need to shiver in the classroom in the name of saving energy There are plenty of ways to make the most of the heat available and keep your room comfortable several of which are outlined below Space heaters are neither an efficient nor safe solution They
16. t also tries to learn your use patterns but you can instruct it to give you more time before sleeping or preferably less to save more energy In Windows click the icon in the system tray that looks like a small version of the hand above and select Adjust my settings On OSX use the Power Save panel in System Preferences Additional Power Management Options The EPA recommends aggressive sleeping to save power and prolong equipment life therefore you may wish to do some additional power management tuning Configure the monitor to sleep after 5 minutes and the computer after 20 min Adjust these times as needed if after a period of adjustment you find the settings annoying or too generous e Windows 7 amp 8 http windows microsoft com en us windows7 products features power management e Macintosh OSX Energy Saver System Preferences http support apple com en us HT201713 4 amp It is recommended that you turn off all unused devices overnight but especially over the weekend If you are concerned about losing your work or having to restart a number of applications on Monday you can use the hibernate option from the start menu in Windows the right arrow next to the shutdown button e http windows microsoft com en us windows sleep and hibernation frequently asked questions Disable any screen savers you may have configured on your computer They are a dated solution to the problem of burn in on CRT mo
17. te the wattage listed Turn on the device Note the wattage listed once the numbers become stable So et a E Turn off the device and plug it back in as it originally was User Manuals It is possible to conduct a plug load audit without Kill a Watt energy monitors The disadvantage of this method is that you will have less information about the phantom load of your devices Ideally you would like to find the wattage W of the device when awake and idle phantom load however some manufacturers may only provide the current or amperage A and voltage V requirements of the device If this is the case multiply the values given for voltage and amperage together to calculate the number of Watts used by the device 1 Check the back or bottom of the device some items like clock radios may have the information printed there For lamps simply check the wattage printed on the bulb 2 If the information is not on the device use your favorite search engine to locate a copy of the user manual for the appliance in question If you cannot find a copy check the manufacturer s website 3 Check the manual for information about the device s energy use This is typically included in a section called Technical Specifications Power Hours per Week Percent 0 25 33 50 66 75 100 main 0 n 1 Hours Weekday 0 8 n 1 234 J Hours Day 0 6 8a n 16 48 24 Hours Week 0 4 amp 2
18. tial audit conduct another qualitative survey of energy use around the school and compare the results of the two audits to gauge your impact Students may be interested in sharing their findings with the principal PTA or school paper and possibly suggest other improvements that can be made The Efficiency VT K 12 handbook can offer guidance with this In addition Boston Green Schools will be collecting results from school audits to help us understand the effect of the Energy Conservation Challenge and possible targets for future action e Submit data online http bostongreenschools org programs energy guide Celebrate Success Students and staff are busy and keeping folks excited throughout the Energy Conservation Challenge can be difficult One way to keep everyone engaged is to foster friendly competition within the school and celebrate success along the way A few ways to keep the school energized to keep saving e Hand out prizes for random acts of green to incentivize good energy behavior e Periodically recognize leaders in the school at large school gatherings or through all school announcements e Create friendly competition between classrooms floors or teams in the school e Dedicate a bulletin board or central space to post energy data and track progress e Hosta green party at the end of the Challenge and to acknowledge everyone s efforts At the close of the challenge BPS buildings that reach the 5 reduction threshold
19. ure Kill a Watts for a plug load survey students can take note of equipment model numbers during their survey and later search for the power use in user manuals online Phantom loads are devices that suck down The NEED Project Plug Loads lesson contains useful background information on eje tricity evei when they arent being ised phantom loads and conducting an energy audit however we recommend you use the Boston Green Schools specific worksheets in the companion to this guide instead of those offered in Plug Loads If you have not yet done so download the Conservation Guide Worksheets e http bostongreenschools org wp content uploads 2015 01 Conservation Guide Worksheets xlsx OR e http bostongreenschools org wp content uploads 2015 01 Conservation Guide Worksheets pdf The Quantitative Survey tab of the spreadsheet can be used to perform basic plug load calculations automatically However if you would prefer to have your students practice unit conversion and make the calculations themselves they can use the formulas printed in the column headers on a hardcopy of the worksheet be sure to only print page 1 of the sheet if using the XLSX file in order to save paper It is necessary to estimate hours per week an item is powered on for these calculations and to facilitate this a table of reference values is provided on the Plug Load Reference Sheet Familiarize yourself with the Plug Load Reference Sheet and pri
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