Jefferson County Middle School in Eastern Oregon is like most schools that use automated controls to heat and cool their buildings. When the computerized controls didn't keep the school comfortable, maintenance staff took matters into their own hands. They operated the system manually to relieve hot or cold classrooms and stuffy air. But that ate up valuable staff time, and it didn't solve the problem of high energy bills.

 

A free school energy audit from the Oregon Department of Energy showed many problems with the school's direct digital control system. Some controls had been set wrong when the system had been installed or had been adjusted badly since. Fixing the system to run correctly is saving the school $10,000 a year.

 

Boilers and lighting systems can be energy hogs, too. By improving the automated control system at the middle school, lighting systems at four schools and boilers at seven schools, the Madras School District has been able to cut about $53,000 a year from its utility budget.

Can you find $10,000 in this picture?

 

 

Jefferson County 
Middle School did with a free energy audit from the Oregon Department of Energy

 

To learn how your school can get an energy audit, 
contact Brandon Adams at 
(503) 378-5054, or Bruce Alford at (503) 378-5544 or (800) 221-8035 (toll-free in Oregon)