Carpentersville school wins energy crown

When it comes to sports and community service, Community Unit District 300's high schools tower over the grade schools that feed into them.

But when it comes to energy savings, one Carpentersville elementary school stands head and shoulders above the rest.

For the second year in a row, the custodial staff at Liberty Elementary School took top honors in District 300's energy conservation contest, beating their savings target for 2008-09 by almost $27,000.

The annual contest encourages schools in District 300 to find simple and creative ways to reduce their energy bills. Since the district started counting, schools have saved more than $2.1 million on energy costs.

The district realized the biggest savings when it installed low-energy infrastructure in its buildings a few years ago. The efforts of building staff since then have resulted in continued reductions.

"We gave them the tools, but they're the ones that are using it," said Dave Ulm, supervisor of facilities and energy management. "They're making it successful."

Rick Bockenhauer, head custodian at Liberty, said reducing his school's energy bills was not rocket science.

Bockenhauer's staff sets timers for the school's outside lights, turns off indoor lights at night and programs the heating and cooling system to turn on only when school is in session or events are being held at the school.

"A lot of it is just common sense," Bockenhauer said. "It's pretty simple. It's all computerized."

Ulm said new software that allows staff to track maintenance requests and keep equipment running efficiently will result in further efficiencies.

"Now we're going to be able to focus on the buildings that are really problems," Ulm said. "We continue to beat our baseline year of 2004 even though we're at 2009 prices."