The District’s Ad Hoc Green/Sustainability Committee – with support from energy manager Lee Kulman – sponsored the third-annual Eco Power Challenge in April. The goals are to reduce electricity consumption during the month of April and help build student awareness that small changes can help conserve energy.
This year seven District 65 schools participated in the challenge. Each school assigned a representative to help students with daily or weekly meter readings during the month of April and compare them to April 2012. Participating schools were asked to introduce the challenge through school-wide announcements, posters or buttons and to promote energy conservation through simple changes in daily routine.
Mr. Kulman presented the results on June 2. They compared electricity usage in April 2014 to that in April 2012. Of the seven schools, he said, three used more kilowatt hours and four used fewer kilowatt hours. On an overall basis, there was about a 1% decrease in the number of kilowatt hours used by the seven schools between the two periods.
Willard won the challenge, with an 11% reduction in kilowatt hours between April 2012 and April 2014.
In the photo above, Christa Garcia, TWI teacher at Willard, who accepts the trophy on behalf of Willard School with Mr. Kulman, at right.