The Acton-Boxborough Regional School District has achieved a striking
22% reduction in electricity use over the past four years, yielding big
cost savings and a substantial reduction in environmental impact.
Faculty, staff and students have collaborated on energy-conserving
strategies through the Power Down Project,
accounting for approximately 2/3 of this reduction. These
behavior-based savings have been achieved through teamwork with no
capital investment required—a remarkable success. The Massachusetts
Department of Energy Resources website features Acton-Boxborough's Power
Down Project in this case study.
Another 1/3 of the reductions
have been achieved through a combination of lighting upgrades, HVAC
mechanical upgrades and working to seal gaps in building envelopes. Much
of this work has been funded through a combination utility incentives
and Green Communities grants through the Massachusetts Department of
Energy Resources.
Check out the numbers in our ABRSD Electricity
and Natural Gas bar charts. In addition to the cost savings that these
reductions represent, the district's CO2 emissions have also been
reduced by approximately 1,300,000 pounds per year as a result of this
trend.
We're proud of our solar arrays,
but it is well worth noting that energy conservation and efficiency
have had a much more significant impact on the district's overall energy
profile—a reduction of 22% in electricity use in four years compared to
the 4% reduction achieved thru the solar arrays.