National Building Competition
The Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy as part of the Erie School District, has been selected to participate in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) ENERGY STAR National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings to help improve the energy efficiency of commercial buildings and protect the environment. In the spirit of popular weight-loss competitions, Collegiate Academy will battle it out against hundreds of other teams from buildings across the country to work off the waste through improvements in energy efficiency with help from EPA's ENERGY STAR program.
In the competition, Collegiate is one of 7 PA schools, one of 62 schools entered, and one of 245 buildings overall. Competitors will measure and track their building's monthly energy consumption using EPA's ENERGY STAR online energy tracking tool called Portfolio Manager, make improvements to their building's energy performance, and share their progress. Of the initial pool of 245 competitors, a small group of buildings will be selected as finalists in July. Among the finalists, the building that demonstrates the greatest percentage-based reduction in energy-use intensity will be recognized as the winner on November 2, 2011.
To try to reduce the amount of energy being used at Collegiate Academy, the Green Team, along with Advanced Placement Environmental Science classes, will take the following steps:
- Establish an Energy Team consisting of an administrator, building engineer, teacher, and students
- Continue to enter energy data onto the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager account
- Coordinate electrical, heating, appliance, and student action committees to assess current energy consumption and implement recommendations
The team will also maintain communication about the project with the community through banner and poster displays; pep rallies; posts on Facebook, Twitter, and the Green Team web page; videos; news media releases; and a letter-writing campaign.
Watch the battle unfold at www.energystar.gov/BattleOfTheBuildings.
Background Information
The Collegiate Green Team started in the fall of 2008 as an after-school volunteer club. Their motto is "Conservation Through Education" and their message continues to be one of personal responsibility.
The commitment to conservation began with an energy audit conducted by the Advanced Placement Environmental Science students in January 2007. After benchmarking heating and electrical data on the energystar.gov website, the students made recommendations to the faculty, staff, and student body to reduce electrical lighting and increase natural lighting. From March of 2007 to March of 2008, the school saved more than $10,000 and 180,000 kilowatt hours compared to the average of the three previous years of data.
The energy usage continues to be monitored and new methods for conservation have been applied. Through grant funding, LED lights have replaced incandescent bulbs in EXIT signs, motion sensors have been placed in faculty restrooms and storage rooms, and a 10.4 KW solar array has been installed on the roof. The energy audit project has expanded within the district as Green Team members teach elementary and middle school students how to initiate conservation programs in their schools.