WRP Conducts Energy Assessments for Asheville City School System

Land-of-Sky Regional Council's Waste Reduction Partners (WRP) recently completed an extensive energy review for the entire Asheville City School System.  Energy assessments were conducted by volunteer WRP assessors Ron Miller, Barry Hanak, George Tregay, and Bob Gilbreath, working with school maintenance personnel.  Assessments were completed at nine school campuses and the Central office, totaling over one million square feet of building space.  Funding was provided through a partnership between Asheville City Schools and Progress Energy Carolina's Business Energy Program.

Benchmarks, or key performance indicators, for energy use were established for all buildings.  Asheville City Schools compares favorably with other K-12 schools in Region 4 but still had opportunity for significant energy savings.

WRP assessors identified energy and water cost-saving opportunities totaling $259,000.  Key project opportunities include turning off identified equipment after hours, improved building envelope and updating the lighting, HVAC systems, and plumbing fixtures.  WRP assisted in the writing of a Strategy Energy Plan (SEP) that has been adopted by the school system.  The SEP will provide guidance for energy management and project implementation throughout the school system.

WRP also assisted ASC in the preparation of the RFP response for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding.  If the application is approved, the ARRA funding and Progress Energy Business Incentives will allow many of the WRP-recommended projects to be implemented.