Nelson County school board reviews savings from energy efficiency efforts
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
At left, Tim Hockensmith, district chief operating officer looks on as Adam Pierce, an engineer with CMTA, reviews energy efficiency savings created by the district’s projects completed last summer.
Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015, 10 a.m. — The energy efficiency projects completed last summer at several district buildings are exceeding their projected savings. That was the message from Adam Pierce, an engineer with CMTA Consulting Engineers, who gave the board a building-by-building review of the resulting savings.
The energy efficiency projects were completed last year at several schools, including Cox’s Creek Elementary School, Nelson County High School, Old Kentucky Home Middle School, and Boston School.
At Cox’s Creek Elementary, propane gas stoves, the propane heating and propane-fired equipment were replaced with electric. The result was a 37 percent reduction in electricity use at the school.
Board member Larry Pate reviews energy efficiency numbers during Thursday’s working session.
At Old Kentucky Home Middle School, the energy efficiency efforts netted savings of 36 percent in electricity costs; at Nelson County High School, 5 percent savings in electricity and reduction of natural gas by more than 50 percent; at Boston School, the efforts netted 16 percent in electricity savings, and at Horizon Academy, 27 percent.
Pierce’s review of energy savings was an important part of the energy efficient project: The project was designed to create sufficient energy savings that the project would pay for itself in 20 years or less.
Of the district’s 12 buildings, nine of them are qualified for the Energy Star designation, Pierce said. Several school buildings scored at or near the top of the 100-point Energy Star scale.
The Energy Star rating scores the annual energy performance of buildings on a scale of 1-100. To receive the Energy Star rating, a building must score a minimum of 75 points.
Kim Brown, the district’s director of secondary schools, updates the board on the district’s college and career readiness efforts.
Cox’s Creek Elementary School received a perfect 100 Energy Star rating, placing it in the top tier of school buildings in the state, Pierce told the board.
The other eight district buildings that received the Energy Star rating include Thomas Nelson High School (99); Foster Heights Elementary (98); Bloomfield Elementary School (94); Old Kentucky Home Middle School (90); Boston School (88); Nelson County High School (84); Horizon Academy (80); and New Haven (77).
The ratings mean the district ranks in the Top 25 in energy efficient among the state’s school districts.
In other business, the board:
— was told that K-PREP scores for students were distributed to each of the district’s schools on the first day of school. The scores will be made public on Oct. 3.
— heard a report from Superintendent Anthony Orr that the board will be asked to approve a request for a Northern Kentucky school district to join the Central Kentucky Educational Cooperative. The cooperative provides professional development opportunities for participating districts.
— reviewed early student attendance numbers for each district school. Four schools showed strong enrollment increases. The total first day attendance was 4,553 students. Orr said 662 county district students were going to the Bardstown Independent School district schools; 80 of those students are children of the city school district.
— received an update on college and career readiness from Kim Brown, district director of secondary schools, and Anne Marie Williams, district director of elementary schools.
— adjourned and reconvened in executive session to discuss pending litigation. The board took no action.
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