News Articles - Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District

'Green' schools are nothing new at RCS where district maximizes taxpayer greenback usage, environmental consciousness

While the state announced plans on Thursday to financially encourage school district’s to go green, RCS has been turning green for more than a year in an effort to reduce energy usage and maximize its use of taxpayer “greenbacks.”

In the first 17 months of an energy conservation initiative in the district, RCS saved taxpayers approximately $469,000 in energy expenditures.

At the same time, additional energy efficiency initiatives are proposed as part of the October 9 capital project/EXCEL vote.

Through the current program, a district consultant evaluates RCS’ electric, water, natural gas and other utility usage and develops plans to reduce consumptions and save taxpayer funds.

Additionally, the program includes:

Ø Performing energy audits of the buildings routinely and identifying trouble areas

Ø Installing motion sensors in rooms

Ø Increasing the temperature in air conditioned areas in the summer and reducing the temperatures in heated areas in the winter

Ø Turning off large refrigerators in the faculty rooms and other areas during recesses

Ø Unplugging radios, coffee pots, microwaves or other electric devices during recesses

Ø Adoption of a Board of Education policy on conservation in the district

Ø Controlling temperatures remotely. RCS’ energy manager logs onto the district’s computerized heating system to determine temperatures in buildings and turn them up or down.

Ø Turning off exhaust fans during unoccupied hours.

Ø Programming all capable PC’s to “energy save” mode using the power management feature

Ø Turning unnecessary lighting in unoccupied areas off. Teachers make certain that lights are turned off when leaving the classroom when empty and utilize natural lighting where appropriate. Custodians turn on lights only in the areas in which they are working

Ø All watering is done between 5 am and 10 am.

Ø When spray irrigating, ensuring the water does not directly hit the building

Ø Occupied temperature settings of air conditioned areas are not set below 74 degrees.

Ø During unoccupied times, the air conditioning equipment is off

Ø Ceiling fans are operated in all areas that have them.

Ø For any 24-hour period, relative humidity levels shall not average greater than 60 percent

Ø Occupied temperature settings are not set above 68 degrees.

Ø During the spring and fall when there is no threat of freezing, all steam and forced air heating systems are switched off during unoccupied times. Hot water heating systems should be switched off using the appropriate loop pumps.

Ø Ensuring all domestic hot water systems are set no higher than 120 or 140 degrees for cafeteria service (with dishwasher booster).

Other green initiatives at RCS include:

No bus idling on school property unless deemed necessary for health and safety (A bus’ internal temperature must reach a certain temperature in the winter time before picking up students).
RCS switched to “green” environmentally friendly cleaning chemicals and products last school year.

What RCS proposes to do with approval of our Oct. 9 Capital Project vote:

Replace all the 25 year windows in the high school with thermal windows that will retain heat better in the winter and eliminate drafts
Install energy efficient boilers in the elementary schools to replace a 40-year-old system
Install natural gas service to the middle school to replace the current electric system for heating and cooling of water and certain areas in the building. This initiative alone is projected by engineers to save the district an additional $28,600 a year.

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