POLICY 4-2.7 ENERGY MANAGEMENT CONSERVATION POLICY

The Montgomery County School Board is committed to conserve energy and natural resources while exercising sound fiscal policy. To fulfill this commitment, the School Board directs the division superintendent and his/her agents to develop short- and long-term strategies in the area of facilities management that deal with energy awareness and energy consumption.

The Director of Facilities and Planning and the Energy Manager will identify an Energy Management Team that will include representatives from the departments of Facilities and Planning, Management Services, and Technology along with representatives from the principal, administrative assistant, and faculty groups. This team will be responsible for developing day-to-day procedures for energy management in the Montgomery County Public School division.

Implementation of this policy is the joint responsibility of School Board members, administrators, teachers, support personnel, and students, and its success is based on cooperation at all levels. The strategies shall include the following:

1. The principal or building administrator is expected to be an active part of energy management at his/her facility. Judicious use of various energy systems is required to ensure that an efficient energy posture is maintained on a daily basis.

2. The head/senior custodian at each facility and/or his/her designee is responsible for a complete shutdown of the facility in accordance with specific procedures developed as stated above when the building is closed each evening.

3. Every employee and every student needs to be an active part of the energy management program. Everyone affiliated with the Montgomery County school division will be asked to be an “energy saver” as well as an “energy consumer.”

4. The energy manager is responsible for conducting energy audits and making conservation program recommendations for each facility on an ongoing basis. Accurate records of energy consumption and costs will be maintained for each facility, and information will be provided to the principal/building manager on the progress of the energy conservation program at his/her facility.

5. All unnecessary lighting in unoccupied areas should be turned off on a regular basis during the day. All lights should be turned off when students, teachers, support staff, and/or administrators leave their areas. In the evening, custodians should turn lights off in all areas except those in which they are working.

6. All computers (except for network servers that must be left on), monitors, printers, scanners, copy machines, laminating equipment, and other office machines should be turned off at the end of the day by the classroom teacher or the office staff.

7. Decisions on new construction and replacement systems shall include a life cycle cost analysis to ensure energy efficiency where possible.

8. Within sixty (60) days, comprehensive energy conservation procedures will be developed by the Energy Management Team and implemented in all Montgomery County Public School facilities. These procedures will be the foundation for full implementation of the energy conservation program.

LEGAL REFERENCE: Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended §§ 22.1-78.

Adopted: April 2004