Cambridge-Isanti Public Schools ISD 911

Cambridge-Isanti Independent School District 911 educates approximately 5,000 students in seven school buildings in the Minnesota cities of Cambridge and Isanti. The district has assessed the energy performance of all of its schools and undertaken significant facility improvements to improve its energy efficiency. As a result of these efforts, the district earned ENERGY STAR Leaders recognition for improving its portfolio-wide energy efficiency by more than 20 percent and Top Performer recognition for achieving a portfolio-wide energy performance rating of 75 or higher.

Since 2004, Cambridge-Isanti Schools have partnered with Schools for Energy Efficiency^TM (SEE) to help the district meet its goal of saving 10 percent on energy costs. The district has saved more than $900,000 since its baseline year by using a combination of operational and awareness campaign strategies. The district changed all metal halides to high bay fluorescents in school gyms and all T12 bulbs to efficient T8 bulbs in hallways and classrooms. In 2008 alone, the district has prevented more than 2,000 metric tons of CO₂ emissions, the equivalent of planting more than 500 acres of trees. Cambridge-Isanti Schools has discovered that the benefits of participating in an energy efficiency program not only include fiscal responsibility but also engaging students and staff about the importance of saving energy and fighting global warming. Cambridge-Isanti School District 911 joined ENERGY STAR as a partner in 2005.