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In N.H., Timberlane School Buildings Earn Energy Star

Release Date: 11/19/2009
Contact Information: David Deegan, (617) 918-1017

(Boston, Mass. – Nov. 19, 2009) – The Timberlane School District is the first school district in New Hampshire to have multiple buildings cited for superior energy performance. Six schools were awarded Energy Star plaques today in recognition that these school buildings are in the top 25 percent for energy efficiency nationally.

EPA presented the Energy Star plaques to the High School, Middle School, and the Performing Arts Center as one building, the Pollard Elementary School in Plaistow, the Sandown Central School and the Sandown North School, in Sandown.

“The Timberlane School District has shown tremendous commitment and effort in using the Energy Star benchmarking tool to measure their energy use in these buildings to become more energy efficient,” said Ira Leighton, acting regional administrator of EPA’s New England office. “Maximizing energy efficiency helps keep energy costs down, and reduces both greenhouse gas emissions as well as traditional air pollution.”

In receiving these awards for the Timberlane Schools, Superintendent Richard A. LaSalle noted the financial importance of making and keeping school buildings energy efficient. “We have entered the budget-making season and are very pleased to be able to point to these major Energy Star awards as solid evidence of our commitment to excellent learning environments, significant energy savings, and good stewardship of the public’s money.”

Receiving the Energy Star designation requires an owner or manager to rate their buildings’ energy performance against actual energy consumption in similar buildings using a simple internet-based tool. The Jordan Institute, a non-profit energy efficiency organization in Concord, N.H., assisted the Timberlane School District in this benchmarking process. “We are delighted to have played a supportive role in gaining this recognition for Timberlane, but the credit for this achievement goes to Director of Facilities Jim Hughes and his facilities team, fully backed up by an involved and pro-active Superintendent and District management,” said Dick Henry, Executive Director of The Jordan Institute.

The annual energy bill to operate America’s primary and secondary schools totals nearly $8 billion – more than is spent on textbooks and computers combined. Of this figure, approximately $1.3 billion is spent on heating bills during the winter months. Using the Energy Star benchmarking tool helps bring these bills down. Nearly 2,000 of the approximately 17,000 public schools nationwide have earned EPA’s Energy Star label for superior energy efficiency, and on average, these schools use 30 percent less energy than typical schools. There are now 61 Energy Star schools in New England.

More information: EPA's Energy Star program for schools (www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=k12_schools.bus_schoolsk12)

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