Bridgewater-Raritan District Looks at Ways to Save on Energy Costs

The Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District district is taking advantage of more opportunities to save some green by being green.

The Board of Education announced Tuesday that the district is looking into the possibility of participating in a 60/40 program through Public Service Electric & Gas, which allows for splitting costs on electrical upgrades throughout the district.

According to Board of Education member Arvind Mathur, this program allows for PSE&G to pay for 60 percent of the costs of upgrades in the district, while Bridgewater will only pay for 40 percent.

"This includes sensors for lights and other upgrades in all public entities," he said. "We are looking into being a part of this."

In previous years, the district has participated in an 80/20 program through Jersey Central Power & Light Company (JCP&L), but now it is looking into the PSE&G program as an addition, said Business Administrator Peter Starrs.

This PSE&G program just recently became available to the district.

"The district benefits as we get more energy efficient equipment, yet only pay a portion of the costs," Starrs said. "Payback periods are relatively quick, thus we spend less on utilities than we would normally have to."

As for the addition of a second program, Starrs said certain schools in the district qualify for the JCP&L program, while others qualify for the PSE&G one.

"I believe they are based on utility providers and kilowatt load," he said. "We aren't switching, but taking advantage of what is available by the utility companies who service the district schools."

The district, Starrs said, would pay either 40 percent or 20 percent of the costs of the upgrades based on the program for which the building meets the requirements of participation.

As far as other energy conservation methods, the district has also been using the Schools for Energy Efficiency (SEE) program since October 2007 to teach about saving energy. The program is created for all grades in the district, and is done at little or no cost to Bridgewater.

Basically, Mathur said, the purpose of the program is to teach the behaviors of saving energy, such as encouraging students to turn off the lights and computers when they are not being used. Signs around the district buildings emphasize these behaviors, he said.

"It is about habits," he said. "We are teaching students how to save energy, so it is a human behavior program."

When the program began in 2007, the set goal was to reduce energy waste by 10 percent, or about $280,000 in avoided costs for the district.

Although it did not reach that exact goal every year, in teaching the energy saving habits, the district has saved about a quarter million dollars in energy costs each year.

The board has currently not determined whether the SEE program will be continued in the future. Mathur said there are currently no funds available in the budget to pay a coordinator for the program, but the school district is still looking to maintain it through current staff who understand how it works.

Also to save energy, the district approved a resolution at Tuesday's Board of Education meeting to move forward with the application for a grant from the New Jersey School Development Authority for HVAC upgrades at Bridgewater-Raritan High School.

The district has approved a grant agreement with the Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act through its school facilities project.

"The grant will pay 40 percent of an HVAC control upgrade project at the high school," Starrs said.

Mathur said this project is one of many the district is looking at to conserve energy.

"We are being very aggressive with solar panels," he said. "We have installed them in several buildings, and we are looking to continue that."

In addition, in a release on the district's website, different energy conservation projects have been outlined, including continued uses of file sharing to cut down on the amount of paper printed for notices. Documents will instead be posted on the website and e-mailed to families, or be made downloadable from home.

To move forward with these initiatives, the district will be collecting e-mail addresses from families at the beginning of the school year to deliver the periodic notices.

"We are [being] very energy efficient," Mathur said.