MADISON, Ala. – The Madison City Schools system is saving hundreds of thousands of dollars by being more conservative when it comes to energy use.
On the front doors of Discovery Middle, is an Energy Star certification sticker.
It represents the effort and money that has gone into making this 40-year-old school energy efficient.
“Sometimes it’s low cost,” said Energy Program Manager for ADECA, Liz Cochran. “Sometimes it’s just realizing that they’re leaving the doors open; the lights were being left on overnight.”
Since being certified, Discovery has saved about $40,000 so far; the district…$130,000.
Motion detection sinks, toilets, and lights are all a part of cutting the costs.
“When we’re saving money, it allows us to put it back into our schools for our students,” said Principal Eric Terrell. “So being able to do that and being able to add extra teacher units or resources for our students is big. It’s a great feat.”
To put the savings in perspective, the $130,000 saved with the certification so far is enough to completely covers the district’s electric bill last month.
“It’s our responsibility to be the best stewards of money for the community we can be. And by saving over $100,000 in energy costs, ultimately what that does is allow us to put it back in the classroom and that’s our ultimate goal…is doing the best for our kids that we can do,” said Superintendent Robby Parker.