DMPS Earns 7th Energy Star Honor for Work That Saves Millions

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DMPS has earned an Energy Star Partner of the Year Award for the seventh year in a row, recognizing our energy efficiency work that has saved more than $15 million over the past decade.

Some people consider 7 to be a lucky number. But luck has little to do with Des Moines Public Schools being named an Energy Star Partner of the Year for the seventh year in a row. Instead, the repeated honor represents the hard work and dedication of the school district’s operation staff to manage buildings as efficiently as possible so that more resources can be directed towards the top priority: education. In fact, energy efficiency efforts have saved DMPS more than $15 million over the past decade.

DMPS was named a 2018 Energy Star Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award winner today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. The award is for continued leadership in protecting our environment through superior energy efficiency achievements. The accomplishments of DMPS will be recognized at an event in Washington, D.C. on April 20, 2018. DMPS is the only Iowa public entity to be honored this year.

Key energy efficiency and conservation initiatives at DMPS during the past year include:

  • Earning ENERGY STAR certification for 94 percent of school district buildings, with an average ENERGY STAR score of 92 across all buildings.
  • Spending an average of $114 per student on energy costs, significantly lower than the national average of $205 per student.
  • Replacing more than 23,000 fluorescent lights with 14W LED lights, resulting in a savings of more than 910,000 kWh annually.
  • Cumulative from the 2008 baseline year energy expenditures, DMPS has saved more than $15 million and prevented the emissions of more than 9,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide. These savings were realized while adding 25,000 square feet in building inventory, adding air conditioning to more facilities, and facing energy costs.
  • Decreasing site energy use by more than 128 million kBtu and source energy use by more than 124 million kBtu since 2009.
  • Purchasing more than 13,000 ENERGY STAR certified computers for students and staff across the district.
  • Creating an upgraded interactive and data-centric DMPS Energy Report Card that provides insight into district-wide and building-specific energy usage.

“This effort pays dividends for both our students and the environment,” said Bill Good, chief operations officers for Des Moines Public Schools. “Each year we can redirect hundreds of thousands of dollars away from energy costs back to our top priority: teaching the children of Des Moines.”

The 2018 Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Awards are bestowed upon a diverse set of organizations that have demonstrated continued leadership in energy efficiency. Winners hail from small, family-owned businesses to Fortune 500 organizations – representing energy-efficient products, services, new homes, and buildings in the commercial, industrial, and public sectors.

Visit the Energy Star web site for more information about the program and this year’s award winners.