PVPUSD REWARDED ENERGY STAR CERTIFICATION REWARD
The Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District (PVPUSD) was recently given the Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Certification for 2016. ENERGY STAR is a program that supports businesses and individuals in saving money and helps the environment with energy-efficient plans and products. ENERGY STAR recognizes the most energy-efficient buildings nationwide. The district offices and 15 PVPUSD schools including Peninsula were named “energy-efficient” and became eligible for certification.
To receive certification, PVPUSD was rated in the top 25 percentile nationwide for its energy efficiency. Each building in the district has a rating from one to 100, and those that score a 75 or higher are eligible for ENERGY STAR Certification. A score of 75 or higher means that the building is rated better than or equivalent to 75 percent of the buildings in the country. However, this certification is only given out on a yearly basis, so each building must maintain its performance throughout the year to remain certified. A licensed Professional Engineer (PE) or Registered Architect (RA) must verify the submitted information of the building in order to verify that the building is able to be approved for energy efficiency.
ENERGY STAR was established to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants caused by inefficient use of energy. It also made it easier for people to identify and purchase energy-efficient products that save money on energy bills without changing performance, quality or comfort. The combined cost of utilities, electricity, natural gas, heating oil and water have been steadily increasing for the district. To lessen the costs, PVPUSD partnered up with energy conservation company Cenergistic and since has saved $2,647,825 on its energy and utility costs. According to PVPUSD, this is equivalent to removing 719 cars from the streets or planting 88,433 trees in a community.
Advanced Placement (AP) Environmental Science teacher Ben Smith believes energy needs and costs will always be a topic of great importance and that energy conservation efforts can easily be made with any type of building. For example, one can simply unplug battery chargers when a device is fully charged.
“The [many] school sites and facilities in the district [are great examples of] opportunities to save energy and reducing energy costs,” Smith said.
According to Junior Lauren Leung, saving energy helps the environment and the world by reducing emissions from fossil fuels. These emissions damage the atmosphere by releasing carbon dioxide, a process known as the greenhouse effect. The gases heat up the planet and lead to climate change, which negatively affects the environment. Leung learned about energy conservation in Smith’s class and after she learned about PVPUSD saving energy, Leung has thought of ways that she can start conserving energy.
“Conserving energy helps my family save money and benefits the environment.” Leung said. “It is very easy to help the environment by doing little things [as easy as turning off the lights,] and I want to incorporate these habits into my daily life.”
Junior Tommy Jankowski, classmate of Leung, also has learned about conserving energy in his Environmental Science class. According to Jankowski, saving energy saves our atmosphere and creates less waste and a better society. To cut back on energy at home, he turns off faucets while he is brushing his teeth. He feels important knowing he can do little things to help the environment, and thinks that this certification will inspire people in the community to start conserving energy.
“I am doing my little part to complete a bigger goal,” Jankowski said. “If our community can save money and the environment, then so can I.”
