Energy consumption and costs are critical for educational institutions to track and manage for two main reasons:

• Energy usage is one of the top manageable spending items in schools’ budgets.
• Educational institutions should be stewards of energy conservation to set an example for the public and greater community.

Institutions can effectively manage their energy consumption by accurately tracking utility data and implementing an energy conservation program in their school. By utilizing web-based software to manage energy use, institutions can increase productivity, better manage the budget, improve communication, provide justification for requests and resources, increase transparency with detailed reporting and documentation, implement better planning strategies, and improve safety and security.

Energy management software can increase staff productivity and save time. With SchoolDude’s web-based energy tracking and management software, all utility bills are input into one database. When compared to tracking utility bills with paper and pencil or spreadsheets, utility tracking software provides:

• Efficient data entry method
• Accurate data compared to error-prone spreadsheets
• Centralized database of information which staff can access in real time
• Better understanding of energy consumption and usage to improve energy efficiency

Understanding energy consumption across schools and buildings is the most important factor in reducing energy consumption and saving money. Utility bill analysis is the simplest and most cost-effective way to better understand and teach others about energy use. Energy tracking software allows energy managers to analyze years of data at a granular level, looking at each meter, building, and cost per square foot.

The number one behavioral change to save energy is to turn off the HVAC system and lights when facility space is not in use. In order to do so effectively, energy, facility and maintenance departments must know when facility space is in use by school or community organizations after school hours. Integrating the building automation system (BAS) with SchoolDude’s facility usage software enables schools to automate this process by automatically triggering the HVAC system and lights to turn on and off based on scheduled facility use.

Integrating these two systems reduces energy costs by not allowing the HVAC system to run all night and also saves critical man hours. Maintenance and facilities staff no longer need to manually turn the HVAC system or lights on and off based on usage of facility space.

Many educational institutions utilize the energy monitoring program ENERGY STAR for ratings and recognition as part of their energy conservation programs. Energy management software, such as ConserveDirect, that integrates with ENERGY STAR’s Portfolio Manager eliminates double data entry. Eliminating double data entry increases staff productivity and allows them to focus their newly found time on other projects. Using ENERGY STAR in conjunction with energy tracking software enables educational institutions to conserve more energy and receive recognition for high ENERGY STAR ratings from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Top performing ENERGY STAR schools cost 50 cents per square foot less to operate, use 35% less energy and generate 35% fewer greenhouse gases than the average school.

ENERGY STAR schools cost 50 cents less per sq. foot, use 35% less energy and generate 35% fewer greenhouse gases than the average school.

Energy tracking and simple conservation programs can significantly reduce educational institutions’ utility costs in a short amount of time. Utility tracking software creates awareness and benchmarks energy consumption and spend. Knowing, understanding and sharing this data enable education professionals to determine goals for energy reduction and develop programs to eliminate wasted energy. Here are 5 easy steps to reduce the energy budget:

1. Perform utility bill analysis using energy tracking and management software.
2. Input data for at least the last two years for appropriate baselines and comparisons over time.
3. Determine which buildings, departments, schools or campuses are top priority and focus efforts on reducing energy use there first.
4. Educate students and faculty on the energy consumption they have the power to control. Encourage behavioral changes through incentives, awards, programs and competition between buildings or schools. Simple behavioral changes, like turning off lights, turning off computers when leaving for the day and closing doors can reduce energy costs up to 15%. Behavioral changes cost no extra money, require no outside assistance, nor require purchase of new equipment or parts.
5. Implement other programs to reduce energy consumption, such as installing energy efficient light bulbs or making facility upgrades if possible. Regularly schedule preventive maintenance to ensure systems are running at their most optimal level, reducing energy use. These efforts can save an additional 10-20% in energy savings.

SchoolDude’s energy management software can easily cut costs for schools in another simple way. By simply tracking energy data month-to-month, it is easy to identify energy spikes and billing errors. Other common savings opportunities that energy tracking software provides include misread meters, inefficient buildings, malfunctioning equipment and water leaks. Without energy tracking software, these can often go undetected for a long time. However, software that makes changes or spikes in usage and costs easily visible will help your team identify these items that increase energy costs sooner.

K-12 schools, colleges and universities can use additional money saved in other areas of their school. Energy managers can use program success and cost savings to justify future budget requests or additional resource requests.

Lack of transparency and lack of communication can increase utility bills. Teachers and faculty may not be aware of the small steps they can take to reduce their individual energy use. Administrators and other officials may not be involved in district-wide or campus-wide energy conservation programs simply due to lack of communication. Energy management solutions can improve communication between parties by:

• Creating awareness: SchoolDude’s energy tracking software centralizes and streamlines energy management. This centralization allows energy managers to share data with other departments and the entire school. Once students, faculty and administrators understand how much electricity their buildings are using, they are more motivated to make changes to reduce their individual consumption.
• Increasing involvement: With data, faculty and students can understand energy use. With that understanding, they are more likely to get behind energy conservation programs. Communicating openly with these groups will encourage them to get involved in energy programs. Conservation programs can involve creating competition between schools or campuses to decrease energy use, allowing students to police energy use or weaving energy conservation and sustainability into the curriculum.

“My favorite tactic is getting the students involved. They are the most excited and can motivate teachers and the outside community.”

Educational institutions set an example of sustainable energy practices for students and the community. Energy management solutions help institutions share their efforts and successes with the community, board and other stakeholders. Communication with various stakeholders is improved when they can view reports, data, and energy reduction trends available in SchoolDude. When stakeholders such as the board, taxpayers, or alumni have visibility into energy savings, educational institutions maintain positive, well-respected images in the public eye and maintain resources needed to continually improve energy efficiency.

Justifying additional needs and resources is difficult when other departments may be higher priority. Data-driven decision-making is key for management who must make many decisions on where to allocate funds, staff and resources. Energy management software provides the data to create data-driven justifications for:

• Energy budget changes or increases
• Continuation of energy efficiency programs
• Additional staffing needs

When utility cost and consumption are tracked year-to-year, energy managers can show where they started, the baseline, and reductions in utility metrics, such as energy intensity and cost per square foot on an annual or monthly basis. Having this data available in real-time allows energy managers to justify the need for budget increases. Showing that a building or campus is performing better than the previous year and performing better than another building provides justification to the administration for why the budget may need to be increased.

Similarly to justifying budget increases, energy management software also justifies the need to keep energy conservation programs in place. If a school is reducing energy use by 15% each month and can demonstrate those reductions at a granular level, the administration can easily see the impact of the program and why it should be kept in place, even if that requires additional resources or staffing. Justifying additional resources when energy savings exceed the cost of those resources becomes simple—SchoolDude energy software can quickly illustrate the math.

The three most important steps for tracking energy use and implementing a successful conservation program are:

1. Knowing the baseline: Where energy usage is before a program is put into place. Without a baseline, it is impossible to track improvements.
2. Tracking utility bills over time: Diligent, granular tracking of every building over a time period is critical to benchmark a building’s energy consumption. It is also necessary to compare utility and energy usage across buildings and track trends over time.
3. Determining an action plan: With this data, energy managers can determine a course of action to reduce energy consumption and measure cost savings.

These three steps can be accomplished with reports from SchoolDude. Detailed reports provide documentation of energy consumption and costs. Utility bill analysis is the most cost-effective way to track energy usage in schools and reduce consumption. Two of the most important metrics to track on every meter include energy intensity, or kBtu per square foot, and cost per square foot.

Energy costs in school buildings currently range from $.82 to $1.36 per square foot.

SchoolDude’s energy management software enables energy teams to run a variety of customized reports at a broad and granular level. Energy teams can analyze data by individual building or meter, or across schools. Reports show where the top priority for reducing energy consumption is, and reduces energy costs as a result.

SchoolDude reports also provide data to share departmental success. Energy departments can use reports to share successes with a number of parties, including faculty, students, the community, media, administrators and government programs that provide awards and other assistance. Reports showing trends over time or by building can show how much a school, district or college reduced energy consumption. These reports will bring recognition to the energy department, reflect highly on the educational institution, and motivate students and faculty.

Data drives decisions, right. Education professionals can use the large amount of data available on energy use to prioritize and plan for their schools’ future. Plans can include ongoing conservation programs that are sustainable, scheduling preventive maintenance on equipment and capital planning—energy data can help with all of these.

Conservation programs can focus on behavioral changes or installation changes to particular buildings or new equipment. What program is best for you can be determined by analyzing energy data and realizing what buildings, equipment or areas are top priority. With this data, energy managers can decide the focus of the conservation program.

Preventive maintenance programs can reduce energy consumption and costs for schools. Planning a proactive maintenance schedule will optimize equipment while also reducing energy use. Reducing energy use can also extend the life of equipment in schools. For example, only running an HVAC system at specified times through integration of the BAS and facility scheduling system will ensure HVAC equipment lasts longer. Energy software that extends equipment life can help with capital planning to best plan for equipment replacement or repair cycles, and budgeting accordingly for those needs.