As the universal push for energy conservation continues to leave an impact, school districts are beginning to recognize strategies they can put into place to save the district money on utilities. This change, however, is far from easy.

“It’s like pushing a boulder uphill,” said Craig Ross, an administrator at Portage Community Education Center. “It’s hard to get people (to change) their ways. … You’re really combating 30 years of bad habits.”

In April, Portage Public Schools began working with an energy consulting company in order to save the district money by making simple changes to reduce energy use that would lower utility bills. Ross, who acts as a liaison between the district and consulting company, Energy Education, Inc., works with a team of various staff members to recognize strategies that can be used in the district. The first step, Ross said, is to increase awareness and make people aware of the little ways that energy is wasted. “A simple way to save money on energy consumption is turning things off when not in use,” he said.

“It’s identifying those times when you can turn off electrically powered items. Even though a particular item doesn’t seem very expensive, when you multiply that across the district, it’s huge,” Ross said, explaining that while leaving one computer on 24/7 is not a huge drain, multiplying that usage across a district with 500 computers quickly racks up the utility bill.

Although Portage’s energy program has been in operation for less than a year, no time has been wasted learning ways to make a difference. The district hopes to save on average hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Ross has attended two national conferences so far on saving energy and has involved the students as much as possible, working with environmental groups at the middle- and high-school levels. He believes involving the students not only teaches them the importance of saving energy, but they also help keep their teachers on task with implementing the district’s energy saving strategies as well.

For those districts who may be interested in implementing an energy program, Ross suggests turning to the vast amount of resources on the web and contracting with an energy consulting firm such as Energy Education.

“You think you can do these things on your own, but it’s really more complex you might initially think,” Ross said, adding that he doesn’t know of a district that has implemented their own strategies and generated vast savings without the help of a consultant.

According to Energy Education’s website, since the company’s launch in 1986, clients have saved $1.9 billion in energy that was able to be used toward education. The company works with K-12 and higher education groups to help reduce energy costs. Other Michigan schools who were listed as saving money through Energy Education include Romulus Community schools, Milan Area Schools, Paw Paw Public Schools and Coldwater Community Schools.