Covington School District (K-12)
Covington Independent Public Schools tackled a big project to lower their energy consumption and reduce their maintenance costs. The outcome? They not only saved money with their new system - they made money with a rebate from the local energy provider. Find out how they did it.
Energy cost savings in the first year
kWh reduced energy consumption
Rebate from local energy company
Background
Covington Independent Public Schools (CIPS) was the first district in Kentucky to exercise the new Kentucky Educational Development Cooperative (KEDC) Price Contract. This cooperative allows Kentucky schools to find the best partners to implement their comprehensive energy efficiency programs through a transparent, competitive selection process that guarantees the price of the project. CIPS awarded their multimillion-dollar project to Performance Services, an energy services company (ESCO) based in Indiana.
Situation
As Covington Independent Public Schools faced ever-increasing budget cuts, they had to find new ways to reduce their spending, and one of the easiest ways for them to reduce their spending was to improve their energy efficiency. This objective created a two-fold problem:
- First, they needed to find an energy-savings solution that was robust enough to meet their budgetary goals.
- Second, they wanted a system that would require very little maintenance and could be operated by a small maintenance team
With their requirements in hand, CIPS and Performance Services got to work, and they started by enlisting Eco Engineering to tackle energy waste in their lighting systems.
The Solution
Eco Engineering audited, designed, and implemented a lighting plan that could meet the very specific criteria for their energy efficiency requirements. The design had three primary components.
- LED lights: Eco Engineering incorporated LED interior fixtures in multiple locations, including primary and secondary schools, administrative facilities, and the vocational center. These LED retrofits allowed them to substantially reduce their energy consumption.
- Occupancy sensors: Next, they put occupancy sensors in bathrooms, hallways, conference rooms, and cafeterias. These sensors automatically shut off the lighting when the space was unoccupied, ensuring that the building was not wasting energy by lighting empty rooms.
- Outdoor lighting: Finally, Eco Engineering addressed the exterior lighting throughout the district. This aspect of the project not only improved the energy efficiency of their outdoor lighting system, but it also improved the safety for CIPS students and faculty.
Eco Engineering was proud to partner with Performance Services to deliver high-quality results that reduced energy consumption, improved safety, and lowered maintenance costs for Covington Independent Public Schools.
Savings
CIPS’ new lighting system delivered substantial savings within the first year and set them up to carry those cost savings into the next decade.
- $91,000 in cost savings in the first year
- $24,900 in sustained annual maintenance costs
- Reduced energy consumption by 1,077,144 kWh in the first year
Incentives
The updates to their lighting system allowed CIPS to meet specific requirements from their local energy provider, making them eligible for a substantial rebate.
- $292,000 rebate from Duke Energy