WYMT Mountain News
Ashley Reynolds

Floyd County schools, like many others, are already back in session. This year, the district is going green. Starting the school year on the right foot at Prestonsburg Elementary is not just important to students, but to faculty as well.

School officials were unhappy with how much energy the district was using.

So they started using a new computer program to help the school district cut back.

"The rates have continued to increase. we have spent more money on power, in the past year than we have spent in the prior years..but our usage is down significantly," said Matt Wireman with Floyd County Schools.

The new program, called "SchoolDude" calculates how much energy the school is using.

"It shows you cost going up and usage going down...which is what we are after...we are fighting usage. we can't control cost, but we can control usage," said Ralph Goble with Floyd County Schools.

School officials say using this program has saved the district more than one hundred thousand dollars.

"We are able now to tell how many kilowatt hours we used in the first hour to the next year...to the next year...so we can see other programs and practices in place...whether they are effective," said Wireman.

Some of those practices include motion sensors in classrooms and timers for air conditioners and heaters. While the building is already geothermal, school officials say this program can be a model for others.

"Just buying this software and being able to track our usage...to go and show the schools and the boards what we are spending and what we are using...we are able to create an environment of energy saving across the district," said Wireman.

Just another way schools hope to save money and energy.

The computer program costs nine thousand dollars, and is starting to be used in school districts all across the nation.

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