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Posted on Thu, Feb 18, 2010 : 6 a.m.

Ann Arbor company uses grant to help schools save and make energy

By Julie Edgar

Educating a new generation about power sources that are cheap, clean and renewable is the overarching mission of Energy Works Michigan of Ann Arbor.

The company, a subsidiary of Ann Arbor's Ecology Center and Recycle Ann Arbor, won a $3.5 million grant last summer from the Michigan Public Service Commission to assist up to 60 K-12 schools throughout Michigan in making their buildings more energy efficient through mechanical updates, lighting and weather stripping, and in some, creating energy with solar- and wind-based systems. The grant extends to teacher training and campus computer kiosks that record how much energy is generated and stored with the installations.

So far, Energy Works is contracting with about 50 public and private schools, providing engineering and energy assessments by architects and engineers. Those that make energy improvements are eligible to receive a $5,000 rebate from the company, says Emile Lauzzana, Energy Works' project director. 

Some schools are also tapping grants offered through incentive programs of utility companies like Consumers Power and DTE Energy.

The kind of project a school chooses depends on finances and the age and size of the facility, but energy efficiency "is the most cost-effective, low-hanging fruit to save money for schools," Lauzzana says. "If the facility has major efficiency improvements or it's a newer facility, we encourage them to participate in renewable energy program."

Cost savings are difficult to measure, but with simple updates of mechanical systems, lighting controls and lights and application of seals around windows and doors, schools can easily save 20-30 percent on electricity and heating bills, says Lauzzana. For an average-size school building, that means $30,000 to $50,000 savings annually.

The smaller-scale solar and wind installations, planned for about half the schools, won't have as an immediate or dramatic impact on utility costs, Lauzzana says, but they're a great educational tool. 

The grant will enable Energy Works and its contractors to install residential-size systems in most of the buildings and four large-scale installations, with some of the funding provided by the schools. A few examples: Upland Hills School in Oxford is installing a 10-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system on its roof that will provide 70 percent of the building's electrical needs, he says. Greenville Public Schools, near Grand Rapids, is pursuing a similar 100-kilowatt solar operation in an elementary school, partnering with a utility's renewable energy incentive program.

Closer to home, Onsted Community Schools, a district southwest of Ann Arbor, is installing a 2-kilowatt wind turbine and 1-kilowatt solar awning that will tie into a grid near the high school physics lab, a handy learning tool for students, who will also be able to track via computer the amount of energy captured and expended.

The district kicked in $18,000 for the project, says Superintendent Mark Haag, because it fits well into the school's environmental curriculum. While the energy feed is in the high school, the lessons developed around it will benefit elementary and middle school students on the same campus, he says.

"Even though the payoff is quite a few years ahead, it becomes a pretty useful instructional tool," Haag says.

Part of the Energy Works Michigan grant covers presentations by participating colleges that offer green jobs training.

"We're hoping that by facilitating presentations in high schools by institutions, it will give soon-to-be high school graduates a place to go, as opposed to not having a plan and falling through the educational cracks," says Lauzzana.

Projects are planned for the spring in Detroit and surrounding suburbs, Port Huron, Grand Rapids and the Upper Peninsula.

Julie Edgar is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com