Academy District 20 · Academy District 20 (D20) views sustainability as an opportunity to enhance...

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Academy District 20 Sustainability Program Plan

Academy District 20SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAM PLAN (SPP)

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Executive Summary

Academy District 20 (D20) views sustainability as an opportunity to enhance the viability of its organization and learning environments. Sustainable operations reduce costs, drive innovation, and create balance amongst interdependent environmental, social and economic operations. Through the adoption of a long-term sustainability posture, D20 is better equipped to identify and mitigate the negative impacts of unsustainable practices. Most importantly, the adoption of sustainable principles creates a new paradigm for D20. A paradigm including new goals, strategies, and systems uniquely tapered to create a vibrant, balanced, and principled K-12 environment. Sustainability is the future and D20 recognizes the importance of incorporating the principles of sustainability into all of its operations by developing this Sustainability Program Plan (SPP). Built from the Deming quality model ‘plan-do-check-act’, D20’s SPP is an ongoing cyclical process aimed at both continuous improvement and long-term thinking and action surrounding sustainability goals, opportunities, and strategies for the future. Specifically, the SPP is the logical next step for an organization that is serious about measuring its progress toward institutionalizing sustainability. Early in 2009, D20’s Superintendent issued a charge to the District’s Executive Director of Construction to assemble a Superintendent’s Committee for Sustainability (SCS) to evaluate, study, and deliver recommendations for both a Sustainability Management Plan (SMP) and Administrative Policy for Sustainability (see illustration on the following page). These initial steps served as an organizing step in what will be the sustainability program for D20.

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SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAM

Administrative Policy for Sustainability

Superintendent’s Committee for Sustainability

Sustainable Management Plan

(SMP)

Ongoing review of policy impact,

energy management

goals

YEAR 1 SUSTAINABILITY RECOMMENDATIONS & GOALS

Initiate formal Energy

Management Program &

Organization

STEP 1

STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4

High Performance Design Guidelines

for New Construction

Develop a Sustainable Management

System for D20

Create the tools and processes to facilitate the develop of site specific sustainability goals and

action plans

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The timeline and deliverables to reach the initial recommendations for Sustainability Policy and the SMP are outlined below: D20 White Paper on Energy Management

September, 2008 Form the D20 Superintendent’s Committee for Sustainability (SCS)

January, 2009 SCS/Brendle Group Meetings

February 25, 2009 March 11, 2009 April 8, 2009 May 13, 2009

Present Recommendations for Administrative Policy on Sustainability and the Sustainability Management Plan (SMP)

June 4, 2009 Note: Within the first year timeline (above), the sustainability program plan (SPP) is a noted resource to be developed. In the illustration above, the program plan is referred to as the Sustainability Management System (SMS) document (within Step 3). Since June, 2009, D20’s Sustainability Program has introduced all of D20’s schools and administrators to the concept of sustainability, D20’s recommended Sustainability Policy, and defined the specific aims and desired first year operational outcomes. Also, the D20 Green Team, its five subcommittees, and the D20 Office of Sustainability made significant progress during the ’09 – ’10 school year. The sustainability program’s focus today is largely made up of education and awareness efforts. For example, during the ’09 – ’10 school year the D20 Green Team successfully delivered the district’s first High Performance Design Standard for new and retrofit construction projects, completed its first whole document revision of the district’s SMP, introduced all D20 schools to the district’s own, unique sustainability certification process, awarded seven schools with Green Grant monies to further green, school inspired, and student led initiatives, supported the development and kickoff of the district’s own, student focused, recycling program called the ‘Recyclones’, improved the districts annual recycling totals by greater than 1000%, spearheaded the district’s effort to gain state and national recognition by awarding 10 schools the EPA’s ENERGY STAR label (increase of 1000% from previous year), and began monthly communication with schools about utilities use and school specific energy consumption and cost totals.

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As of September, 2009, D20 formally adopted Sustainability Policy:

Academy District 20 will utilize, to the extent economically and practically feasible, sustainability principles to achieve healthy, productive, fiscally responsible, and safe environments for students, staff, parents, and the community. The district will seek to preserve natural resources while balancing social, economic, and environmental issues. Using sustainability as a framework for decision-making and operational principles, Academy District 20 will: o Develop and implement sustainability objectives and goals; o Foster student participation in sustainability initiatives to strengthen the district’s commitment to develop responsible, prepared, and productive members of society; o Recognize outstanding sustainability-related performance in the district; and, o Commit to the responsible stewardship of both natural and economic resources. The Executive Director of Construction will be responsible for the following sustainability related items: 1. Provide sustainability program oversight through the District 20 Green Team; 2. Reduce energy consumption district-wide; 3. Increase recycling efforts; 4. Develop and manage a five-year energy related capital project portfolio; and 5. Develop a sustainability recognition program.

Today, sustainability is also a component of D20 Policy Governance. Sustainability is acknowledged within Executive Limitation (EL) 2.5.16, Asset Protection, with the following description:

The Superintendent shall not fail to ensure full implementation of the approved D20 sustainability long range (program) plan.

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The purpose of this program plan is to provide enterprise-wide operational meaning, focus, and direction to the current D20 sustainability policy and Board of Education governance directive. Foremost, the SPP is intended to serve as a tool to document, define, and operationalize existing and proposed processes, goals, and program recommendations. The SPP implementation process includes the following three phases:

1. Evaluate existing sustainability policy and document recommended initial steps, performance to date, and recommendations/action processes going forward

2. Define the program’s long and short term goals 3. Document the needed on-going implementation steps and resource

requirements to sustain the sustainability

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Most importantly, the SPP process is intended to create a repeatable system, guided by specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely (SMART) goals. The initial phase includes the verification of opportunities and strategies first presented in the SMP, the evaluation of existing sustainability actions already taking place in D20 as part of the first year’s implementation processes and the appropriate broadening of initial strategies to include best practices and sustainability operational norms. The second phase involves identifying potential sustainability practices across all departments, organizing future actions into operational categories, assigning needed resources and setting both short- and long-term goals for implementation. The second phase will outline key opportunities (changes to be

Initial Phase

Second Phase

Final Phase

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reviewed by affected stakeholders and included for execution through a future process). The vast majority of opportunities are correlated to the operations of a particular district department. However, some are anticipated to need formal, top level support. The types of opportunities anticipated to need top level support are those recommending staffing/organizational change or those describing fiscal planning. The final phase addresses how the district will institutionalize sustainability. The purpose is to create not only a repeatable process but to create a culture where sustainability pledges and mission statements are no longer necessary. The operational norm of the district, upon ultimate success, will include sustainability at each operational and decision-making step. The program process will resemble the W. Edward Deming’s Quality Model of ‘plan-do-check-act’:

D20’s SPP is intended to involve all operations, departments, and academic programs to achieve a cohesive focus on environmental, economic, and social sustainability. This means moving beyond resource conservation and basic compliance with best practices into areas such as high performance design and construction, focused recognition programs, accountability for sustainability performance, potential resource allocation and reassignment, curriculum development and delivery that supports sustainability, and new program funding.

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1.0 Background Academy District 20 is an award-winning, nationally recognized K-12 leader. With this Sustainability Program Plan (SPP), D20 seeks to build upon the success of its Sustainability Management Plan (SMP) and expand its sustainable efforts into all operations and education arenas. While D20 is already practicing sustainability in many operational areas, a SPP will accelerate and provide weight to D20’s progress in a focused and well coordinated and communicated manner. For context, note that D20 is the 10th largest school district in the state of Colorado (out of 178). At the time of this publication, D20 proudly serves approximately 22,400 students. The district is home to 31 total schools, greater than 1 million maintained square feet, and more than 500 acres of school campus grounds.. The buildings include the following types:

- 19 elementary Schools - 6 middle schools - 6 high schools - 3 charter schools - 1 early childhood center - 5 other administrative and maintenance facilities

During the past three calendar years, D20 has, on average, spent approximately $3.7M on utilities. The anticipated utility rates for all utility services through 2013 will increase (see chart below). When compared to Colorado Springs School District 11, D20 spends approximately $14 more per student per year. If utility consumption is left unchecked and assuming annual student growth rates of 2%, D20 needs to be fiscally prepared to spend in excess of $4M on utilities during the ’13 – ’14 school year.

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The SPP presented herein describes the methodology and anticipated benefits for developing this plan, its policy roots, an evaluation of current practices, recommended goals and their and anticipated measurable targets, and guidelines for the implementation of a system to insure effective sustainability practice in the future.

1.1 Background

What is Sustainability?

“Sustainability” implies that the major activities on your campus are environmentally sound, socially just, economically viable, and that they will continue to be so for future generations. Simply stated, a sustainable school is an environmentally safe and healthy learning environment that is clean, free of environmental hazards, and in good repair. This definition is a starting point for where sustainability can eventually influence the environmental, social, and economic goals and outcomes of a school district, its schools, and the community within which it operates. District 20 recognizes the numerous potential themes sustainability can have as it begins to gain momentum as a recognized decision making and outcome based evaluation tool. For example, sustainability includes themes like:

Total Revenue Requirements CAGR

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

2010 2011 2012 2013

Year

Gro

wth

Electric

Gas

Water

Wastewater

CAGR

12.9%

6.6%

9.2%

3.5%

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Sustainability has three major categories or action spheres. The overlap amongst the spheres of environmental, social, and economic tenets seeks to create balance and therefore a sustainable future.

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Sustainable Strategies for schools include but are not limited to: site redevelopment alternative transportation maximize open space water efficient landscaping water use reduction mechanical and electrical system commissioning optimized energy performance (heating, cooling, water) renewable power strategies construction waste management material reuse regional material and food usage daylight & views curriculum that captures sustainable issues and opportunities community involvement

Each of these strategies can be traced, directly or indirectly, to a single sphere or a place of sphere overlap. The desired outcome is many times evaluated using the Triple Bottom Line concept.

Triple Bottom Line was first used in 1989 by John Elkington, co-founder of a consultancy focused on sustainability.

Sometimes referred to as "TBL", "3BL; triple bottom line simply stands for:

People Planet Profit

Triple Bottom Line is an increasingly recognized decision making and evaluation concept/metric. Triple Bottom Line reporting is becoming an accepted way for public and private sector entities to demonstrate they have strategies for sustainable growth. The triple bottom line is a form of reporting that takes into account the impact your school or business for example has in terms of social and environmental values along with financial returns. How the three terms apply:

People

This is also known as Human Capital. It really just means treating your employees justly while creating a positive impact on the surrounding community in which a business may operate. In this part of the Triple Bottom Line model, business not only ensures a fair day's work for a fair day's pay; but also plows back some of its gains into the surrounding

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community through sponsorships, donations, or projects that are aimed toward the common good.

Planet

This is Natural Capital. A business or school will strive to minimize its ecological impact in all areas - from sourcing and procuring raw materials to the production process, to shipping and administration. It's a "cradle to grave" approach and in some cases "cradle to cradle" i.e. taking some responsibility for goods after they've been sold - for example, offering a recycling or take back program. A good example of this sphere in schools is a Green Cleaning procurement and processes.

Profit

This is more about making an honest profit than making a profit at any cost - it must be made synergistically with the other two spheres of People and Planet.

While many major corporations used to sneer at the idea of a Triple Bottom Line reporting system, some have taken embraced the concept. Many of these companies are being rewarded with added consumer interest because of their understanding of the interdependence of these processes. Because supply chains are also accountable to the overall impact of a company, they also come under scrutiny in a triple bottom line audit. A good example of this is some big box stores "greening" up their act and in doing so, demanding that their suppliers use less packaging or banning certain ingredients from products.

The importance of the Triple Bottom Line

Here's an interesting fact - according to CorpWatch, of the 100 largest economies in the world, 51 are businesses; the other 49 are countries. This is why Triple Bottom Line concepts are so important - it's not just about commerce, it's about civilization.

Triple Bottom Line is not an award, accreditation or a certification you can achieve - it's an ongoing process that helps a company or school district stay on track toward operating in a more balanced manner and demonstrates to the community at large they are working not just towards simple and quickly vanishing outcomes, but toward a greater common good.

Approximately 50% of US consumers consider at least one sustainability factor in selecting consumer packaged goods items and choosing where to shop for those products, according to a survey conducted by Information Resources, Inc..

After all, without people and planet - there's simply no profit to be made.

For example, sustainability can have many independent and interdependent aspects within a school. The illustration below captures the complexity and scope of these relationships.

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If school district 20 is fully successful institutionalizing sustainability, it will no longer be necessary to reference policy, plans, and the sustainability mission of specific organizations. Sustainability will be wholly integrated into strategic, core process, practical, and organization wide decision making, practice, and measured outcomes. Most importantly, sustainability will be part of the D20 culture, where awareness and education, communications, measurement, and recognition are systemic across all organizational boundaries. Institutionalized sustainability demonstrates that each individual recognizes and exercises his/her role to both lighten and improve the impact we create while establishing a lasting legacy for which education strives. Success will be evidenced when a sense of place and stewardship is communicated within the D20 culture and exemplified in the operation of the built environment.

1.2 2008 D20 White Paper Sustainability Program Recommendations Sustainability Management Program

- The first step in creating Sustainability Guidelines is to establish Sustainability Policy, not just simple Energy Conservation Policy.

o An example is the policy of Poudre School District: “Poudre School District is committed to being a responsible steward of our natural resources and believes that public education should lead the way in developing an ethic of sustainability in all of its practices. Building off the successes of applying sustainability in constructing new schools, remodels, and school improvement projects, the district now reaffirms its commitment to sustainability by adopting a Sustainability Program Plan (SPP) that extends the principles of sustainability to all operations.”

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- An example of this change would result in the following likely policy items: the policy will

o Support its educational mission by providing physical spaces that promote the health, productivity, and safety of all students and staff

o Reduce life-cycle costs by conserving energy and natural resources, further supporting the educational mission through fiscal responsibility.

o Balance educational, financial, and environmental issues in daily decision making.

o Consider and incorporate relevant aspects of sustainability into all future policies.

o Inspire commitment to this policy among employees and students. o Serve as a community, state, and national leader in sustainability and

partner with other local, state and federal organizations to further common goals.

- The next steps of the process involve identifying existing sustainability

opportunities and practices across all D20 departments, crafting a vision to guide both immediate and long term decision making, and setting both short and long-term goals.

- While opportunities for sustainability abound in new project design, assessment

of existing buildings for greater resource conservation, comfort, and productivity is necessary. Through on-site assessments, D20 will discover energy, water conservation, and solid waste opportunities that are feasible, practical, and cost effective. In this case a hired consultant will work with D20 to analyze costs, implement solutions, and project expected payback periods so that informed decisions to improve building efficiency can be made. Outside consultants are necessary largely due to their vast experience in this building segment and knowledge of innovative building technologies. It is important to also consider support during implementation.

- The SPP is designed to operationally address both long term opportunities and

short term wins. For example, long term areas of consideration are: o Resource Conservation o Green House Gas Emissions o Sustainable Education o Transportation

- The short term opportunities are in areas like: o Building Maintenance Operations

Carpentry Electrical HVAC Locksmithing Painting

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Plumbing Theatre

o Business Services/Finance o Conservation Policy enforcement and documentation of results o Communications o Curriculum o Custodial o Customer Support o Food Services o Information Technology o Grounds Services o Purchasing o Facilities Office Operations o Risk Management o Security o Staff Development o Utilities Management o Transportation

- Evaluate results o Document o Communicate o Provide Gap Analysis and Opportunities for Improvement

Next Steps There is no doubt that sustainable design practices in both existing and new facilities, along with day to day operational changes to meet district sustainable management goals are overdue in Academy District 20. Early win opportunities exist throughout the district. However, the process to determine what opportunities are most important and in line with the D20 mission and vision will begin with the development of BOE policy in this area. Board policy serves as the cornerstone for planning, implementation, confirmation, and management actions. Within these four areas, D20 will be able to develop the operational tasks that support an overall policy within the broader district strategic plan. All motivation must be in support of the district mission; however the evaluation of results will certainly be more immediate and objective. To better define the situation before the district today while integrating policy, D20 will require expert advice, resolve, parent and community support, and a well documented, consensus based evaluation of the specific opportunities, goals, and resulting cultural and operational changes for D20. No matter the size or type of organization, the common element of successful energy management and sustainable operations is commitment. Organizations make a commitment to allocate staff and funding to achieve continuous improvement.

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To establish an effective sustainability program, leading organizations form a dedicated team and institute an sustainability policy.

- Form a Dedicated Team

Appoint an Energy Director — Sets goals, tracks progress, and promotes the energy management program.

Establish an Energy Team — Executes energy management activities across different parts of the organization and ensures integration of best practices.

- Institute Policy

Institute Policy — Provides the foundation for setting performance goals and integrating energy management into an organization’s culture and operations.

Because sustainable design can mean many things and there is no one size fits all approach, deliberate planning is key to the successful development of High Performance or ‘Green’ school construction and maintenance guidelines. Outlined below are the recommended planning, execution and evaluation steps. The planning process allows the project team to carefully evaluate all factors that can affect design, construction, cost, schedule, and long-term maintenance before the design process begins. Ideally, the planning process should include:

Make the Commitment: Assess Needs and Performance: Identify Benchmarks: Prioritize Your Goals: BOE Policy: Develop Guidelines and Action Plan for New Construction and Maintenance: Make the Case through Implementation, Evaluation, and Achievement: Create a District Green Team:

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Visually, the process looks like:

It is anticipated that leadership and management of this process will be needed. Current staffing does not support the redirection of an entire FTE for this purpose. In fact, this area could easily support 2 FTE knowing day to day operations are ongoing and technical evaluation could be used immediately. It is anticipated that expert advice and consulting will be needed as well to develop the framework for district wide discussion, evaluation of other school districts using similar programs, and the documentation and technical evaluation of recommendations and results. Overall, the timeline to achieve a well documented plan, supported by staff, the community, parents, and students is 12 months at best. Additional FTE and consulting will be required at an anticipated cost of no greater than $100K.

1.3 Sustainability Facts:

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- Schools spend more money on energy than any other expense except personnel (greater than $3M in Academy District 20)

- About 20% of America’s population spends at least 6 hours in a school each week day, including greater than 55 million students and nearly 6 million faculty.

- Growth sectors in Sustainability are:

- High Performance schools (designed and built using Green building standards) typically cost 15 - 20% less to operate than conventional schools (see illustration below)

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In 2007, the American taxpayer spent greater than $35 billion tax on school construction, the largest construction sector of the economy.

The typical annual energy cost for an ES is between $70K and $150K The typical annual energy cost for a MS is between $100K and $200K The typical annual energy cost for a HS is between $200K and $650K Over a 30 year building life cycle, it is estimated that only 2 percent of life cycle costs

are spent on construction and 8 percent on building energy and maintenance. 90 percent is spent on the salaries of the employees who inhabit the building.

Current inefficiencies mean that up to 25 percent of energy used in a typical school building is wasted – largely due to poorly designed or operated systems and procedures Academy District 20 spends nearly $185 per year, per student on energy (about the national average) If left unchecked, D20 will likely spend nearly $6M a year on utilities for the ’14-’15

SY (a nearly $2M increase from ’09-’10 SY levels) If the nation's schools cut energy costs by even 25 percent, the resultant savings

($1.5 billion) could pay for 30,000 new teachers or 40 million new textbooks each year.

BTU stands for British Thermal Unit, a measure of energy. One BTU is not much: it's equal to 0.25 food calories or about the amount of energy in the tip of a match. To put this in perspective, the food energy in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is about 1250 BTU, one kwh of electricity is equivalent to 3,412 BTU, a gallon of gasoline contains about 125,000 BTU, and one short ton of coal (2000 lbs) contains about 20 million BTU.

Academy District 20 typically uses, 53% more energy (2007 – 2008) per school than Poudre Valley School District in Ft. Collins, Colorado The average KBTU/sf/year for D20 schools is 91.9 (2007-2008), the average for

schools in the same climate is 82 (AAHS is the lowest at 42.2 kBTU/sf/yr) Americans threw away 38 billion plastic water bottles in 2006 The average 34-watt florescent bulb uses about $7.24 worth of electricity each year based on normal office/classroom use. How many bulbs do you have in your classroom, offices, halls, restrooms, lounges, and workrooms? Do you really need them all? Turning lights out 2 hours earlier each day at your school can save as much as $500

per month or $5,000 each school year. (based on 1,000 light fixtures). Turning lights off in one classroom for one hour keeps over 2 pounds of pollutants

out of the environment. Each computer in the district uses approximately $34.00 of electricity each year.

Almost 75% of that cost is just to operate the monitor.

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2.0 What is the SPP? In broad terms, the SPP is a vehicle that moves an organization systematically toward sustainability, which is meeting the needs of the present without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to do the same. The SPP serves to focus attention at all levels on critical environmental, economic, and social issues. The SPP creates efficiencies and consistencies among programs and provides a shared business and problem-solving framework for all employees. Specifically, an SPP is the logical next step for an organization that is serious about tangible and measurable long-term sustainability. The figure below diagrams and describes the overarching tenants of the SPP, including policy, planning, and the actions of implementation, confirmation, and management. Built from the Deming quality model ‘plan-do-check-act’, the SPP is an ongoing cyclical process aimed at both continuous improvement and long-term thinking surrounding sustainability goals.

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Motivation for and Benefits of the SPP An SPP provides an opportunity for a comprehensive and coordinated approach to sustainability that is integrated with standard metrics of performance. The motivation for this SPP is to elevate D20’s sustainability performance. As one of the first known school districts in the nation to establish a SPP, D20 seeks to extend its focus into the operational sustainability arena. SPP Benefits The benefits of this SPP are many and varied. In addition to providing focus and serving as the catalyst for guided action, the SPP accomplishes the following: • Highlights successes of existing internal sustainability efforts • Allows D20 to follow through with sustainability ideas • Enables D20 to use resources strategically • Positions D20 to take advantage of emerging opportunities • Enables D20 to adapt to changes as they arise • Creates efficiencies, synergies, and consistencies among programs leading to cost savings • Shifts thinking from incremental to breakthrough • Provides an example for the community and other school districts nation-wide Program Vision/Requirement D20’s vision for its SPP is intentionally pragmatic and built upon policy, green team suggestions, staff experience and norms, and the demonstrated performance of existing efforts within the program today. Today’s vision is communicated, coordinated, and executed in a manner that seeks balance with ongoing District sustainability activities. In addition, the District seeks innovations that reflect best practices locally, regionally, and nationally, and relies upon a broad experience base to generate new and creative ideas that support and enhance sustainability goals. D20’s SPP requires the support and active involvement of all operations and department leaders. It is anticipated that a cohesive focus and a well anticipated program will gain traction early in D20. This means moving beyond basic compliance with today’s comfortable standards and expectations into areas such as green building design and construction, calculated, comprehensive, and measurable resource conservation procedures and compliance, acknowledgement of outstanding sustainability performance, transportation

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efficiencies, and school accreditation requirements including sustainability. D20’s goal is to ensure positive impacts for both today’s and tomorrow’s students, staff and community. In delivering the district’s SPP, D20 is creating a roadmap that defines and illustrates an organizational and operational philosophy and action sequence toward organization wide sustainability practice. The SPP moves from policy to goals, to future actions. The SPP is an important first step, establishing focus and linking policy to action. Policy, recommendations, implementation steps, and vision combine to illustrate a path for D20 to extend sustainability into and throughout the district. D20 will utilize both broad initial steps and focused next step strategies to gain early momentum. Timely evaluations regarding program progress and next steps are anticipated. Program goals include the creation of an environment where the district can, in a timely fashion, easily measure the systemic results and acute effectiveness of measurable deliverables. The approval of this pioneering and comprehensive program plan exemplifies D20’s commitment to its students, staff, and community while supporting the district’s focus on student growth and fiscal responsibility.

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3.0 Sustainability Policy Strong policy, purposefully written and carefully executed does the following: Implies visible management support Reflects organizational culture, style, and focus Is consistent with other policies Applies to all major operations States beliefs and intentions (what) Provides flexibility for the district to determine ‘how’ t accomplish the policy intent Provides direction for decision-making Provides a foundation for planning and action Can be clearly communicated to all employees Drives change in the workplace Inspires commitment Serves as a unifying theme

Policy becomes the driving force for the sustainability program, providing both top management support and a unifying theme for staff members. In a manner similar to the district’s school accreditation process, we start with policy; a mission statement or a declaration of the unique identity to which the organization’s sustainability plans aspire; its specific purpose; and the means by which the district will achieve its unique sustainability purpose. While developing this program plan, it was imperative to insure the Board of Education Ends, which describe strategic priority, were not distinct or divergent from those of sustainability. It is noted that sustainability, rather, can be used to create a unifying theme therefore creating a synergistic system for success. Sustainability as a unifying theme supports the District’s mission and focus on student achievement. For example, while responsible stewardship of the environment is important, sustainable design, construction, and operation also provides a better physical environment for students and staff at lower life-cycle costs. In other words, design, implementation, and management decisions determine how a building will perform throughout its operational life from a resource consumption and waste generation standpoint, substantially affecting annual operating costs. Savings in operating costs can be redirected into the core business of educating students. Furthermore, over a 30-year period for a commercial building, it is estimated that only 2 percent of life-cycle costs are spent on construction and 8 percent on building energy and maintenance. Ninety-two percent is spent on salaries.1 Therefore, one of the biggest cost

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savings from sustainable design, construction, and operation stems from improved worker productivity. Improved worker productivity naturally leads to staff retention at a time when attracting and keeping a highly qualified workforce is challenging. Similarly, students learn more, perform better, and attend more often when they are schooled in a sustainable building that offers daylight, fresh air, and comfortable temperatures. The policy development process intentionally focused to serve the district in a manner that exemplified leadership and commitment to the sustainable use of its resources. The original recommended administrative policy provided to the BOE in June of 2009 stated: For present and future generations, sustainability seeks to emulate nature through the creation of balance among social, economic, and environmental issues. Using sustainability as a framework for decision-making and operational principles, Academy District 20 will:

o Lead through the delivery and implementation of sustainability objectives and goals

o Foster student participation in sustainability initiatives to strengthen its commitment to develop responsible, prepared, and productive members of society

o Recognize and celebrate outstanding sustainability-related performance

o Commit itself to the responsible stewardship of both natural and economic resources

With this policy, Academy District 20 establishes the foundation for a future identity where sustainability principles and practice will be utilized to achieve healthy, productive, fiscally responsible, and safe environments for students, staff, parents, and the community. D20’s sustainability policy vision is intended to: Inspire commitment to sustainability policy by all employees Create district opportunities for individual and collective leadership through efforts

to take action independently and partner with other organizations, both internally and externally, to further common goals

Deliver a solid foundation for the infusion of sustainable education as a powerful mechanism to achieve existing accreditation aims and truly prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century

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Inspire resource conservation methods and activities which are realized through dedicated leadership, community inspired goals, and collaboration amongst all facility employees

The policy on page four of this document illustrates what was approved as sustainability policy by the BOE in September of 2009. It is recommended that the following tenets be added to serve as policy foundation norms: We will support our educational mission by providing and operating physical

spaces that promote the health, productivity, and safety of students and staff. We will reduce life-cycle costs by conserving energy and natural resources,

further supporting our educational mission through fiscal responsibility. We will balance educational, financial, and environmental issues in our daily

decision-making, planning, and goal setting. We will consider and incorporate relevant aspects of sustainability into all

future policies. We will inspire commitment to this policy among our employees, vendors,

and community. We will serve as a community leader in sustainability and partner

organizations to further our common goals. We will include sustainability education at each opportunity in the curriculum

development and management process.

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4.0 SPP Current and Recommended Strategies This SPP balances top-down concepts (e.g., policy, district leadership commitment, etc.) with bottom-up practices (e.g., lighting retrofits, water efficiency, school action plans, waste diversion practices, etc.). The plan assumes a capable support and leadership structure to provide D20 with immediate success. With experience, the program management and leadership structure will enable and create the needed tools to deliver repetitious and long-term goal attainment. An important initial step in the program development process was the delivery of a comprehensive Sustainability Management Plan (SMP). The SMP for D20 was a first step that will guide the District’s broader sustainability program, including this SPP. The SPP will evolve over time as a multi-year continuous improvement process whereby strategies and goals are defined and metrics are developed to measure success.

The SMP has provided immediate direction and a suggested framework for advancing sustainability. In addition, an SMP has had several benefits for D20:

Provided boundaries and focus for decision-making

Provided the foundation for sustainability planning and action

Drove change in the workplace and classroom

Inspired commitment to common goals

Created a visible management decision-making tool

Reflects a future-focused organizational style and responsible culture

For D20, the SMP has successfully provided a framework for advancing sustainability within the day to day operations. The existing practices and recommended strategies (with progress to date) in the SMP, listed below, served to expand and provide short term process and operational recommendations. The existing practices and recommended strategies and their progress to date include the following:

Existing Practices

Good energy management policy (being revised), including awareness for building managers

Comprehensive direct digital controls upgrades for HVAC systems across the District

Coordinated building scheduling

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Lighting upgrades across the District

Light switch signage (“Turn off lights”)

Energy use trending (to identify billing errors)

Energy simulations on most new schools with goal to exceed International Energy Conservation Code by at least 30 percent

Buildings with modern infrastructure

Equipment commissioning of existing mechanical equipment at select sites

Irrigation sub-metering at all sites (as of summer 2009)

Site-specific recycling (paper only in most cases)

Toner recycling

New arrangement with Waste Management for containers to allow single stream recycling

Site-specific eco-clubs and community involvement

At the EAC, some self-hauling of plastic, aluminum, and glass

Lunch count and portion control systems for elementary schools to reduce waste

Recess-before-lunch programs at some elementary schools (reduced waste because students eat more of their lunches)

Expressnap® napkin dispensers that reduce waste in lunchrooms

Washable trays at elementary schools

Mountain Ridge solar PV system – first in Colorado Springs (1kW solar panel integrated into 8th grade science)

Core awareness and staff support for recycling at elementary schools

Route optimization for buses

Idling policy for buses

Particulate reduction in some older buses

New buses ordered with preheaters

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4.1 Recommended Strategies and Progress (Blue) to Date

These strategies are consistent with the Administrative Policy for Sustainability and were generalized to address major areas of opportunity. Within each major strategy, sub-strategies have emerged to address the specific opportunities for D20 and its operations. Some of these major strategies are aimed at the organization as a whole, while others are directed at specific programs or projects. For example, a project-level strategy might include energy improvements for a specific building, while reallocating energy savings back to building occupants is considered a program-level strategy. An example of an organizational-level strategy would be District-wide sustainability training.

These measures will create a feedback loop or the beginnings of a system. The recommendation loop will result in beneficial changes returning into the system resulting in continual improvement.The SMP has been used to provide initial direction, context, and boundary to many of the first year initiatives, goals, and evaluation criteria.

Energy Management Structure

The District has prepared a draft energy management plan that describes the case for green schools, outlines the District’s current energy policy and activities, and discusses new sustainable design guidelines and a sustainability management system. Along with capital efficiency projects for existing buildings and design guidelines for new construction, energy management strategies can help protect occupant health, reduce operating costs, and reduce environmental impacts, including GHG emissions. To date, D20 has met with building managers to increase awareness of energy management opportunities and has initiated a review of monthly energy trends to identify billing errors.

Moving forward, D20 plans to form an Energy Management Committee to establish and support both short and long-term operational and planning goals. This Committee will have responsibility for the following:

Support the Long Range Capital Planning Committee.

Support development of new construction specifications related to energy management and sustainability strategies.

Review and provide recommendations for other proposed energy management related projects and proposals.

Review data relating to operational benefits and outcomes of projects and process changes throughout the District.

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Review individual school energy management ideas, plans, and programs to develop greater awareness and create synergy across the District.

Initiate new energy programs and goals through a technical evaluation of ongoing or new activities and consensus development.

Conduct energy audits at schools to identify energy savings opportunities.

To support D20’s energy management efforts and the Energy Management Committee, it is anticipated that a full-time Energy Manager will be hired in summer 2009.

Based on experiences with Poudre School District and other educational institutions nationally, a 10 to 15 percent savings on energy costs can be expected within 1 year from working with staff and students on energy conservation behavior and awareness (assuming no changes to weather or other events causing utility usage to increase). Looking at the District’s 2007/2008 total energy costs of just over $2 million, this would result in an annual savings to the District of $200,000 at a minimum. As a result, energy management strategies can be an important component of the goal to reduce energy costs across the District by more than 5 percent by end of 2010, as well as below 100 kBtu/square foot on a specific building basis.

Opportunities

Define specific tasks and roles for future energy manager.

Re-allocate utilities program savings into 5-yr energy project portfolio.

Identify school and other facility energy champions.

Develop incentive structure.

Integrate sustainability into school site plans.

Provide timely feedback to school personnel related to energy performance.

Provide each school a display board type mechanism to clearly ‘show’ energy progress and month to month results.

Create Opportunities to:

o Empower Building Managers to document sustainability related recommendations

Building Manager Energy Project Template

5-yr Capital Project Portfolio

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Sustainability Project Database

o Save all energy savings to fund prioritized sustainability related projects

o Create a district wide incentive structure – Beyond Green Grants, monthly monetary award (predetermined)

D20 newsletter recognition

$$ per month for savings or overall champion

o Robust benchmarking campaign, tracked at both the school and district level

School Energy Boards

Include Energy Star Score, Electricity, Water, and Gas usage, Recycling Status, Sustainability Team Meeting Minutes, kBTU/SF to date

o Office of Sustainability feedback

Continue monthly and quarterly utility usage tracking and feedback

Manage to each schools Sustainability Action Plan goals

o Promote conservation behavior

Monthly inspections and feedback

Support to students, sustainability teams, Superintendent’s Student Sustainability Committee

Support to Green Grant winners/projects

o Deliver and utilize High Performance Design (HPD) standards

o Continue to develop partnerships and stay active in the conservation and sustainability arena

o GEO, CASDEM, CSU, D11, USAFA

Strategies for Getting There

Dedicated Energy Manager

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A key to the success in implementing the several energy-related strategies outlined in this SMP is providing the staff capacity to manage the District’s energy programs and projects, as well as manage and coordinate budgetary and operational aspects of D20’s energy program. Increasing energy management capacity by adding an Energy Manager could accommodate direct responsibility for several important tasks:

Develop specifications and designs for new energy projects and systems, including renewable energy projects.

Act as a liaison for partnerships with utilities and local, state, and federal agencies.

Educate staff, faculty, and students about energy-saving opportunities and promote conservation-minded behaviors.

Manage school energy challenges and incentive programs.

Coordinate with school-specific champions, helping energy managers stay connected to building challenges and needs.

Inspect facilities for operating efficiency, comfort level, and utilization.

Identify rebates, grants, and other funding options for energy projects.

Benchmark energy performance and water use at least annually using Energy Star™ benchmarking or a similar tool.

Provide ongoing tracking to optimize systems and highlight cost savings of efficiency measures.

School Incentive Program

A school incentive program can be established that combines awareness and education of energy use with tangible monetary incentives to encourage participation and action. Such programs have been used in the Poudre School District and other education institutions to achieve measurable savings in energy use and costs.

Such a program could include hands-on energy labs in individual schools that reinforce the science standards specific to their grade level. Teachers are good choices to become school’s energy champions and form energy teams. These teams can take charge of energy use in their schools and earn rebates for saving energy. Depending on grade level, students can help in a number of important ways:

Use their own energy to power lights.

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Learn about energy use by handling watt meters.

Discover how electricity is generated from a mixture of fossil fuels and renewable energy sources.

Explore wind power through inquiry lessons.

Learn about the use of LED lights, incandescent bulbs, and compact fluorescent bulbs in classrooms to provide a hands-on look at energy conservation.

Participating schools that achieve energy reductions could receive monetary incentives. After a baseline of energy use is developed for each school, schools should set a goal to reduce electric energy use by 10 percent. (An important step in this process is providing each school with utility data; the District’s individual schools presently are not provided this data.) A fixed monetary incentive could then be provided based on the size and electric cost of the school. This structure can provide both an incentive for the school and a sizeable reduction in District energy costs. As an example of this type of program’s effectiveness, Poudre High School in Fort Collins has reduced electric energy use by 20 percent, resulting in a savings of over $32,000 per year for the District.

Financing

There are a number of strategies D20 can use to fund energy management activities, from internal funding and debt financing to rebates, revolving loans, grants, and performance contracts. As the district considers its options, it should be noted that D20 can define its own parameters for success, such as rates of return on investment or limits on paybacks. A few of these options are described below.

The Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) offers support to businesses and institutions in their efforts to research and establish energy performance contracts. This support may include preliminary screenings, RFP tools, and other guidance. In addition, GEO screens and pre-approves energy contractors annually to make it easier for school districts to select an appropriate partner for projects. Visit the web site at http://www.colorado.gov/energy/index.php?/commercial/category/performance-contracting/ for information on GEO support and (http://www.colorado.gov/energy/index.php?/commercial/pre-approved-energy-service-companies/) for a contractor listing. With GEO assistance, the District could hire an outside energy services company (ESCO) under an energy performance contract. Once the ESCO is selected, it would perform a detailed investment-grade audit of facilities, guarantee costs and savings, and begin work immediately. Although the ESCO charges a percentage of project costs to manage the project and potentially guarantee the savings, this added expense is more than compensated for by not having to pay the cost of delay associated with investing

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nominally annually for a number of years to implement facility improvements. A performance contract structure allows a customer to do wide-scale improvements in a relatively expedited time frame. Under a performance contract, it would take an estimated 2 years from hire to project completion. Performance contracting also allows D20 to consider all proposed strategies as a total package with a combined payback, with short payback items helping to support longer payback strategies. As noted previously, D20 can set its own parameters in terms of goals for the term of a performance contract. For example, many institutions cap their time of payback at between 12 and 15 years.

There are various rebates at the local level and grants at the federal and state level to support sustainability, energy efficiency, renewable energy, water conservation, and other projects, including pending funding from Recovery Act stimulus funds. Grants also are available from foundations, associations, and the private sector. As one example, Colorado Springs Utilities is offering rebates for peak demand reduction and lighting retrofits, as well as for high efficiency toilet retrofits and irrigation systems. Incentives also are offered for installing solar PV. For PV specifically, customers are eligible for a $3.75 per watt rebate. Combined with federal tax credits for solar (30 percent of the system cost), the rebate makes PV an attractive energy solution. Depending on the installation, 40 to 60 percent of the total system cost could be covered by rebates and tax credits.

To provide a consistent and sustained source for financing initiatives, D20 will develop a 5-year plan that will establish an energy and sustainability revolving fund to support innovative projects proposed by individual schools. Seeded with funds from the District and sustained with cost savings from completed projects, such a fund would provide the campus community with a long-term, stable source of income for a variety of ventures across the District, from energy and water savings projects to other resource efficiency initiatives that have the potential to result in cost savings over a reasonable period of time. Once capital costs are repaid to the fund from operational cost savings, extra savings could then be allocated to other budgets or funds as desired to support other sustainability efforts that have less emphasis on cost savings.

Possible Metrics

Potential metrics, or ways to measure sustainability with respect to energy management, include the following:

kBtu/square foot and/or per student reductions in energy use for individual schools and buildings

Percent reduction in energy use District-wide

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Number of schools participating in energy challenges and incentive programs

Percent reduction in energy costs (District-wide and for individual schools)

Number of schools qualifying for ENERGY STAR™ status

Staff Training Structure

Training of staff in energy management and sustainability practices is another key component of implementing this SMP. Building on awareness activities the District has already held with building managers, a District 20 Green Team will be created after completion of this SMP to facilitate implementation of recommended initiatives. The Green Team will be made up of SCS members, D20 principals and teachers, community and D20 stakeholders, D20 administrators, students, and community sustainability leaders.

Opportunities

Training newly hired employees in sustainability practices

Training existing employees through peer-to-peer knowledge sharing opportunities

Building incentives for savings- not just schools, but other facilities as well

Insure experience with energy conservation strategies is a part of the custodial hiring process


Suggested strategies for integrating sustainability into staff training include the following:

Develop a District policy that requires hiring criteria to include sustainability skills/experience where relevant (e.g., maintenance, IT, procurement, some faculty positions, etc.).

Develop training materials with a particular focus on facilities staff that turn the switches of various appliances, lights, and buildings on campus. Also provide a particular focus on those areas that align with the goals of the SMP. Training materials can start with simple best practices checklists tailored to staff type. Training materials should be included in new hire orientations, both in written form (training materials) as well as in-person orientations. In Colorado, a valuable resource in the development of training materials particularly related to energy is the Colorado Association of School District Energy Managers (CASDEM). Some examples include the following:

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- Computer Labs: Computer lab staff could be trained to shut down computers at closing time.

- Custodial: Custodial staff could be consistently trained to turn off bathroom lights when not in use and building lights after cleaning at the end of the night. Provide custodial staff a shutdown checklist for the end of each day to ensure that building systems are shut down to conserve resources. Turn off lights in unoccupied rooms and ensure that exterior lights are off during the day. Report leaking faucets and running toilets. Train custodial staff members on what materials are recyclable and what are not.

- Kitchen: Kitchen staff can be trained to minimize lighting when cafeterias are not in use, run exhaust fans only when needed, minimize use of tap water for thawing food, turn off kitchen equipment when not in use, apply appropriate temperature set points for refrigerators and freezers, and run dishwashers only with full loads. Teachers and other staff also should receive training on solid waste and recycling practices.

- Teachers and Other Staff: Teachers can be trained to turn off computers at the end of each day, minimize use of personal appliances and non-radiant space heaters, work with task lighting, use blinds to manage heating/cooling of spaces, and turn off lights when leaving. Teachers and other staff should also receive training on solid waste and recycling practices.

Incorporate general outreach materials regarding the District’s commitment to sustainability into communications, including new employee orientation packets and presentations.

Ensure that existing sustainable practices receive appropriate educational support. Survey staff members to determine their awareness of these efforts and judge if additional support is necessary.

Develop a District policy that requires contractor hiring criteria to include sustainability skills/experience where relevant (e.g., construction, maintenance, etc.).

Hold brown bag lunches for staff members to learn about specific practices or products related to sustainability.

Include presentations on sustainability at District-wide events including Nuts and Bolts, staff meetings, Orientation Meetings, LEAD Team Nuts and Bolts

Develop a best practices handout for each school to share with staff including

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teachers, administrators, and building managers.

Require that an education plan be submitted in concert with any proposed sustainability initiative.

Add materials to the existing staff handbooks for classified and certified staff.

Develop training materials to be shared with staff through professional development courses to include:

o Sustainability, What is it?

o Best Practices for being Green in schools

o Ways schools can reduce and better manage energy consumption and costs

Possible Metrics

Potential metrics, or ways to measure sustainability, with respect to staff training include the following:

Staff competency in sustainability

Percent of District employees trained through new employee orientation

Reduced energy use and other related metrics

Attendance at Sustainability related professional Development Courses

Individual School Sustainability Toolkits

Along with the staff training opportunities discussed above, motivating and empowering individual schools to improve their sustainability performance with tools and incentives (such as the monetary incentives discussed in Section 6.1) is a significant part of achieving the District’s sustainability goals. School green teams in particular can be an effective mechanism for involving schools, while resources such as individual school checklists and progress reporting templates can provide schools with valuable guidance to schools (Appendix A). Green teams can be a dedicated group of faculty, staff, and students that is committed to sustainable operations for their school. Green teams can range from the informal – a few employees and students working together to reduce their school’s energy consumption, to the formal – a group specifically chartered by leadership to promote and foster sustainable operations that reduce a school’s environmental footprint. Successful green teams are very

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place-based; that is, the issues they choose to work on are meaningful to their specific school. What is feasible in one school may be very different than in another school because the natural resources, culture, and economic situations are all different. Green teams can choose to focus on one area of sustainability (waste reduction/recycling, energy consumption, water conservation, alternative transportation, etc.) or address sustainability for their school on a broader spectrum (total environmental footprint). Green teams may want to start with energy and resource reduction to realize early wins through cost savings and support the District’s overall progress toward sustainability. Green teams can then expand to take on other sustainability initiatives as the team develops.

Opportunities

Identify school champions.

Create a school Pledge for Sustainability

Develop school specific green teams.

Formally involve schools in energy management by providing monthly consumption results.

Provide rewards and incentives for progress.


Identify a champion for each school interested in/responsible for the overall management of the school’s energy efficiency, water conservation, and other sustainability initiatives. A champion should be someone who understands the building’s details and knows how to meet goals in the most effective way.

Convene individual school green teams with a cross section of staff and students to create a school-wide stewardship culture and promote programs, such as Energy Challenges. Or identify existing eco-clubs, science classes, or enrichment groups interested in taking on sustainability as a charter.

Fill out an individual school sustainability checklist and set and communicate specific performance goals (e.g., x percent reduction) to all students and staff. This is the school Sustainability Action Plan.

Use performance goals to invite student and staff ideas on developing specific strategies to meet percent reduction targets and convey to all building occupants. Begin a student led and focused Sustainability Team for the District.

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Hold quarterly school green team meetings to review building resource use and progress toward meeting goals.

Recognize students and staff for success with meaningful rewards and incentives to encourage the entire staff to develop ideas for improving performance, such as parties or funneling money from energy savings back into department initiatives (See Section 6.1).

Ask students and staff to take a pledge to personally commit to a particular challenge, whether it is for energy, water, or other resources.

Provide specific actions individual students and staff can take.

Make it fun by planning activities such as energy scavenger hunts with a Kill-A-Watt meter to track school energy consumption.

Offer clear, visible indicators of progress. Energy Display boards beginning in the ’10-’11 SY.

Create a venue for students and staff to share their success stories, such as a central post-it board or the Student led Sustainability Team.

A healthy competition is an effective and fun way to gain support; schools can compete to see who recycles the most or who turns off computers or other equipment at night.

Use a reporting template (Appendix A), newsletters, e-mail, and web sites to share progress and show side-by-side performance of different schools.

Integrate school-based sustainability practices with curriculum (See Section 6.5).

Possible Metrics

Potential metrics, or ways to measure sustainability with respect to individual school participation and performance, include the following:

Percent reduction in energy use, water consumption, etc., by school

Number of active green teams

Number of students and staff participating in programs

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Food Service

Currently, D20 food service is provided by the Sodexo, Inc. management company, which overseas District kitchens and cafeterias. In addition to recycling and sustainable food and supply purchasing practices, several opportunities for increasing kitchen waste diversion rates were noted during the building assessment phase of the SMP development. These opportunities could be reviewed with Sodexo with the objective of setting reasonable goals related to solid waste reduction and increased waste diversion through recycling and/or composting.

Opportunities

Reduce or eliminate disposables and Styrofoam.

Use more reusable, washable cutlery and tableware.

Explore District opportunities and/or regional partnerships to compost food waste.

Encourage students to bring waste-free cold lunches (reusable lunch boxes and washable containers rather than paper and plastic bags, etc.).

Decrease self serve options, such as buffets, reduce use of trays, and decrease portion sizes to reduce food waste.

Increase local and organic food purchases (research other programs within Colorado that could be applied in D20 kitchens and cafeterias, such as the Colorado Schools Harvest of the Month or Garden to Table programs, which intertwine local produce, healthy nutrition, community action, and sustainability into curriculum and food service.)

Donate excess food where possible.


D20 can achieve greater sustainability in the food service area in a number of ways:

Work collaboratively with Sodexo to integrate food and materials waste reduction measures as well as local/organic food options into food service operations across the District and set mutual goals for performance over time. This collaboration could involve cost benefit analyses for opportunities, such as washable table and flatware versus disposable materials.

o Introduce plastic baskets and biodegradable liners at D20 MSs.

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o Introduce washable silverware at D20 ESs.

o Remove all Styrofoam plates from HSs and replace with recycled content paper plates.

o Develop a district wide kitchen compost program

o Promote and deliver a sustainable hot lunch program; perhaps one day a week.

o Introduce the Colorado Schools Harvest of the Month or Garden to Table programs to D20 kitchens in an effort to address local and organic purchases.

o Support D20 school garden program with planning resources and culinary applications.

o Retrofit all kitchens with high efficiency dishwashing and cooking equipment; when appropriate.

o Verify Sustainability Kitchen operations are being used; create a training program to encourage and demonstrate the sustainability operational successes.

Revisit existing contract with Sodexo and introduce food and materials waste reduction and local/organic food purchasing requirements into bidding process for future contracting.

Explore a District-managed food service system that is built around the sustainability policy and goals outlined in the SMP (ala District 11 - http://www.d11.org/fns/download/FNS%20Overview%20011008.pdf).

Possible Metrics

Potential metrics, or ways to measure sustainability related to food service, include the following:

Percent of food from local sources

Percent of organic food

Food waste generated annually (pounds/tons)

Percent cafeteria waste generated and diverted annually (pounds/tons)

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Curriculum

Sustainability is a broadly defined concept, incorporating a number of social, cultural, economic, and environmental issues. In addition, the term sustainability can have widely different meanings for different individuals, although in the U.S. and in Colorado its environmental aspects are often emphasized. As a result, sustainability can be a challenging subject to address in K-12 curriculum, particularly if it is approached as a stand-alone class.

The United Nations has declared 2005-2014 as the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. The purpose of the Decade is to help educators integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning. As part of the Decade, educators are focusing on equipping students with the skills, perspectives, and knowledge to live in a sustainable manner using methods that integrate across all aspects of the curriculum, rather than through a stand-alone class. Such ‘whole school’ approaches to sustainability are increasingly being used to integrate the concepts of sustainability into classes such as science, geography, social studies, and others. A whole-school approach to sustainability also seeks to build collaboration and active participation of students in real-world problem-solving in their own schools, giving students direct responsibilities and leadership roles in making their own school more sustainable.

Opportunities

Involve students in sustainability action plans in all schools.

o Create a district student led and focused Sustainability Committee to discuss sustainability opportunities, successes, and obstacles at each school.

Network with other districts to share experiences.

Integrate student curriculum/messages to support other SMP strategies.

Include students in results and awareness.

Offer educational development credit.

Communicate common values on sustainability.

Develop guidelines and provide teachers with lesson plans and other resources to integrate sustainability into existing classes.

Encourage schools to identify specific sustainability initiatives in which the whole school can participate and provide participation and leadership roles for students, such as being part of school Green Teams.

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o Begin the introduction, on a school by school level, to encourage the introduction of Sustainability into school site plans (site plans are a road map to attain student achievement objectives).

Consider convening an annual sustainability summit for students from different schools to come together and share their sustainability projects and progress.

Seek out community partner organizations that can support student school initiatives and provide additional resources and opportunities for student participation.

Possible Metrics

Potential metrics, or ways to measure sustainability in related to curriculum, include the following:

Student literacy in sustainability

Student participation in their own school sustainability initiatives

Number of schools including Sustainability in their respective Site Plans.

Number of schools including sustainability curriculum in their Sustainability Action Plans

Building Re- or Retro-Commissioning

The District reports that it has commissioned the mechanical equipment at Pine Creek High School and the Education and Administration Center. Re-commissioning or retro-commissioning of existing buildings optimizes building systems so that they operate efficiently and effectively, resulting in reduced energy use and increased occupant comfort. Retro-commissioning is especially effective in situations where the function of a space has changed, which affects the HVAC system and occupant comfort (e.g., a classroom has been converted to a computer lab). Commissioning can be thought of as the step that bridges the gap between a building on paper and the fully functional, energy efficient building in practice. The benefits of commissioning are considerable and include the following:

Larger and more sustained energy savings

Reduced maintenance costs

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Better building systems operation

Greater budgeting accuracy

Costs for re- or retro-commissioning generally range from $.05 to $.40 per square foot (Capital dollars are needed to execute the types of commissioning D20 is seeking. The solution is not necessarily to use ESCO type performance contracts if the costs and data collection effort to collect the necessary commissioning ideas is up to double what other contracting opportunities will afford D20). Data on energy savings and payback from the 1997 National Conference on Building Commissioning estimate operational cost savings of 7 to 30 percent.

Opportunities

Regardless of whether the effort is completed on new construction or an existing building, commissioned building systems can include the following:

Lighting and lighting control systems, including day lighting controls

Mechanical and control systems (including test and balance/sequence of operations and AHU typical daily schedules)

Building envelope systems

Electrical (to include circuiting, fixture type, and light candle levels)

Irrigation

Kitchen equipment

Fire/alarm security

Facility Operation by ALL users including renters


The District is encouraged to continue this effort in its buildings with existing mechanical systems and, at a minimum, expand the effort to include any existing lighting control systems. The District can evaluate the following aspects to prioritize buildings for this effort:

The quantity, diversity, and complexity of building mechanical systems

The existence of a building automation system

The potential for simultaneous heating and cooling

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The need for test and balance (comfort issues)

When possible, the District is encouraged to continue its commissioning activities by directly engaging in-house staff based on availability and/or required expertise to cover the breadth and depth needed for a thorough commissioning effort. These efforts may require partnering with third parties for portions of the commissioning process.

Possible Metrics

Energy use and cost savings from re-commissioning projects

Number of buildings re-commissioned annually

Number of in-house staff (in FTE terms) engaged in commissioning process

Building Energy and Water Improvements

The building resources referred to in this section include energy (electricity and natural gas) and water (indoor and outdoor). While one can consider information technology as a separate resource, it is referenced only in the context of energy improvements.

Energy Opportunities

One of the District’s goals is to reduce energy consumption by 5 percent in the next year (FY ’09-’10). Achieving this goal is well within the District’s reach and will align it with the average energy density (81.8 kBtu/sq ft-yr, from EIA) of other schools in its climate zone. To complement the District’s recently implemented practices related to sustainability (described in Section 4), a number of additional practices have been identified that should help the District become a leader in energy efficiency and reduce operating costs. It is beyond the scope of the SMP to identify energy savings measures and calculate their economic impacts at each school. However, to help the District focus its resources on the most effective opportunities, individual schools were compared to the same EIA energy intensity benchmark referred to in Section 4 for both electricity and natural gas. The EIA compiles data from numerous sources to establish energy densities for different climate zones in the United States. The District is in Climate Zone 2 where the average electrical energy density is 8.7 kWh

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per square foot per year (sqft-yr) and the average natural gas energy density is 40.9 kBtu per sqft-yr. Across all schools, the District’s respective energy densities are 9.3 kWh/sqft-yr and 48.3 kBtu/sqft-yr. More telling is the comparison of individual schools to the EIA and District averages. Figures 8 and 9 indicate where the District should focus its effort to save electrical and natural gas energy. The schools with energy densities of over 100 kBtu per sqft-yr include Rampart High School, Aspen Valley High School, Woodman Roberts Elementary, School in the Woods Elementary, and Douglass Valley Elementary. As of February, 2010, the schools with a previous 12-months with an energy density over 100 kBTU/sqft-yr are:

Sq Footage

Total kWH

Elec kBTU/SF-YR

Total CCF

Gas kBTU/SF-YR

TOTAL kBTU/SF-YR

Rampart High School 213,100 2,657,439 43 191,505 72 115Liberty High School 186,000 2,221,935 41 165,260 71 112Discovery Canyon Campus K-6 84,000 797,550 32 81,111 77 110Academy Endeavour Elementary 47,467 586,500 42 38,272 65 107Academy International Elementary 47,467 471,000 34 41,852 71 105Aspen Valley High School 16,600 213,120 44 18,092 87 131

It should be noted that, because of their unique characteristics, the individual schools cannot be compared to each other on an ‘apples-to-apples’ basis. Some anomalies can be explained:

School in the Woods has a very small footprint, very poorly insulated envelope including walls, roof, and fenestrations, which makes it more energy intensive. In addition, the relationship of the heated volume of space compared to the exterior facing surface area of the facility has a direct correlation to energy intensity (true for Aspen Valley HS too). In addition, SITW is heated completely by electricity (baseboard heaters directly below windows) which is approximately 2.5 times more expensive than natural gas.

The kitchen at Discovery Canyon Phase I prepares 2,700 meals a day for students at other schools, thus increasing the site’s energy density.

Schools that have heated pools have natural gas loads, even in summer months. This is true for Liberty HS and Rampart HS.

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Some schools have more portable trailers which contribute greatly to the energy intensity at a particular site. Academy Internation and Academny Endeavour Ess are subject to this condition.

Energy Strategies for Getting There

Lighting Controls

Daylight: Daylighting sensors yield energy savings when a space has sufficient access to daylight that artificial lighting can be reduced or eliminated for periods during the day. Cafeterias and entryways are ideal locations to take advantage of natural daylight. Because of the large windows found in these locations, it is usually unnecessary to have perimeter lights on during the day. An adjustable photocell with manual override can be used to control the perimeter bank of lighting. When the photocell senses that luminance is greater than a pre-set level, it turns off some or all of the perimeter lights.

Occupancy Controls: Occupancy controls turn off lights when they fail to detect the presence of people in a room after a set period of time. These are ideal for rooms that have periodic occupancy, such as assembly rooms, conference rooms, bathrooms, gymnasiums, offices, and classrooms. High connected wattage can also be an important determining factor for cost-effective applications. Occupancy sensors field a variety of sensor types depending on application.

Scheduling Controls: Lighting can be placed on centralized scheduling by connecting it to a building automation system. Wall switches with programming capability can be programmed with room-specific scheduling. These units can be a low cost retrofit option where more global building automation system scheduling is not attainable.

An evaluation of emergency fixtures and operation. Each school’s emergency fixture operation and circuiting scheme shall be evaluated to determine of overlap or unnecessary wattage is being used.

For breaks of one week or more, the district Facilities staff shall insure all parking lot lights are turned off.

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ELECTRICAL ENERGY INTENSITY

11.7

12.3

11.7

11.9

8.3

7.5

9.7

9.7

8.5

7.1

7.4

33.7

7.4

5.9

8.5

10.4

8.4

8.7

8.8

8.7

6.5

10.9

9.4

8.3

6.5

9.0

9.1

11.8

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0

Rampart High School

Pine Creek High School

Liberty High School

Aspen Valley High School

Air Academy High School

HIGH SCHOOLS

Discovery Canyon Campus Phases II & III

Timberview Middle School

Mountain Ridge Middle School

Eagleview Middle School

Challenger Middle School

MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Woodman Roberts Elementary School

School in the Woods Elementary School

Rockrimmon Elementary School

Ranch Creek Elementary School

Prairie Hills Elementary School

Pioneer Elementary School

High Plains Elementary School

Frontier Elementary School

Foothills Elementary School

Explorer Elementary School

Edith Wolford Elementary School

Douglass Valley Elementary School

Discovery Canyon Phase I

da Vinci Academy

Chinook Trail Elementary School

Antelope Trails Elementary School

Academy International Elementary School

Academy Endeavor Elementary School

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Electrical Energy Intensity (kWh/sq ft‐yr)

Electrical Energy Intensity fo ASD20 Schools

Average Electrical Energy Intensity ofZone 2 Schools (8.7 kWh/sq ft‐yr)

Average Electrical Energy Intensity of ASD20 Schools (9.3 kWh/sq ft‐yr)

Note: 1) ASD20 data from 2007‐2008

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2/2009 - 2/2010 Electricity Usage Total kWH Site Sq Ft Electrical Energy Intensity, kWh/sq ft-yr

Rampart High School 2,657,439 213,100 12.5 Liberty High School 2,221,935 186,000 11.9 Discovery Canyon Campus Middle 1,445,600 114,000 12.7 Pine Creek High School 2,426,778 192,530 12.6 Eagleview Middle School 1,198,027 137,135 8.7 Air Academy High School 2,074,611 243,362 8.5 Challenger Middle School 770,100 105,077 7.3 Mountain Ridge Middle School 1,159,500 111,400 10.4 Discovery Canyon Campus K-6 797,550 84,000 9.5 Timberview Middle School 1,097,600 110,000 10.0 Chinook Trail Elementary 477,000 73,064 6.5 Academy Endeavour Elementary 586,500 47,467 12.4 Academy International Elementary 471,000 47,467 9.9 Ranch Creek Elementary 406,650 55,500 7.3 Explorer Elementary 458,500 47,600 9.6 Discovery Canyon Phase III 1,485,800 173,418 8.6 Woodmen Roberts Elementary 316,560 49,100 6.4 Frontier Elementary 441,900 47,900 9.2 Prairie Hills Elementary 402,680 49,100 8.2 Pioneer Elementary 496,200 47,900 10.4 Antelope Trails Elementary 451,200 48,122 9.4 Mountain View Elementary 337,950 53,500 6.3 Edith Wolford Elementary 366,300 56,063 6.5 The DaVinci Academy 446,100 56,500 7.9 High Plains Elementary 354,370 41,846 8.5 Foothills Elementary 381,300 41,846 9.1 Rockrimmon Elementary School 280,480 36,208 7.7 Douglass Valley Elementary 253,919 43,720 5.8

Aspen Valley High School 213,120 16,600 12.8

Company Totals: 24,476,669 2,529,525 9.7

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NATURAL GAS ENERGY INTENSITY

64.8

48.9

58.9

73.9

13.8

40.5

39.4

41.6

46.7

59.1

75.7

0.0

45.9

40.9

59.5

43.3

41.5

51.3

39.4

65.4

40.8

91.3

63.4

37.5

54.6

54.7

65.0

57.9

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0

Rampart High School

Pine Creek High School

Liberty High School

Aspen Valley High School

Air Academy High School

HIGH SCHOOLS

Discovery Canyon Campus Phases II & III

Timberview Middle School

Mountain Ridge Middle School

Eagleview Middle School

Challenger Middle School

MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Woodman Roberts Elementary School

School in the Woods Elementary School

Rockrimmon Elementary School

Ranch Creek Elementary School

Prairie Hills Elementary School

Pioneer Elementary School

High Plains Elementary School

Frontier Elementary School

Foothills Elementary School

Explorer Elementary School

Edith Wolford Elementary School

Douglass Valley Elementary School

Discovery Canyon Phase I

da Vinci Academy

Chinook Trail Elementary School

Antelope Trails Elementary School

Academy International Elementary School

Academy Endeavor Elementary School

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Natural Gas Energy Intensity (kBtu/sq ft‐yr)

Natural Gas Energy Intensity fo ASD20 Schools

Average Natural Gas Energy Intensity of Zone 2 Schools

(40.9 kBtu/sq ft‐yr)

Average Natural Gas Energy Intensity of ASD20 Schools

(48.3 kBtu/sq ft‐yr)

Notes: 1) ASD20 data from 2007‐20082) Climate Zone 2 Schools and ASD20 Schools Adjusted to 810 Btu/cf Natural Gas

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2/2009 - 2/2010 Natural Gas Usage Total CCF Site Sq Ft Natural Gas Energy Intensity, kBTU/sq ft-yr

Rampart High School 191,505 213,100 72.1 Liberty High School 165,260 186,000 71.3 Discovery Canyon Campus Middle 178,083 287,557 49.7 Pine Creek High School 127,911 192,530 53.3 Eagleview Middle School 91,540 137,135 53.5 Air Academy High School 55,668 243,362 18.3 Challenger Middle School 93,331 105,077 71.2 Mountain Ridge Middle School 75,614 111,400 54.4 Discovery Canyon Campus K-6 81,111 84,000 77.4 Timberview Middle School 68,505 110,000 49.9 Chinook Trail Elementary 46,399 73,064 50.9 Academy Endeavour Elementary 38,272 47,467 64.7 Academy International Elementary 41,852 47,467 70.7 Ranch Creek Elementary 40,894 55,500 59.1 Explorer Elementary 35,859 47,600 60.4 Discovery Canyon Phase III 0 173,418 0.0 Woodmen Roberts Elementary 39,614 49,100 64.7 Frontier Elementary 34,638 47,900 58.0 Prairie Hills Elementary 35,802 49,100 58.5 Pioneer Elementary 29,292 47,900 49.0 Antelope Trails Elementary 30,323 48,122 50.5 Mountain View Elementary 33,078 53,500 49.6 Edith Wolford Elementary 30,493 56,063 43.6 The DaVinci Academy 27,753 56,500 39.4 High Plains Elementary 27,862 41,846 53.4 Foothills Elementary 23,732 41,846 45.5 Rockrimmon Elementary School 24,208 36,208 53.6 Douglass Valley Elementary 20,774 43,720 38.1

Aspen Valley High School 18,092 16,600 87.4

Company Totals/AVG: 1,707,465 2,703,082 54.1

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Lighting Upgrades

High Bay Lighting: Lighting fixtures in rooms with high ceilings (high bays), such as athletic facilities and warehouses, often are attractive opportunities to reduce energy costs by retrofitting existing equipment with new technologies. Improvements in fluorescent lamp and ballast technology now enable banks of fluorescent lamps to perform lighting tasks previously served only by metal halide or sodium lamps. The retrofit involves replacing existing metal halide fixtures with high-bay fluorescent fixtures containing numerous T8 lamps (or T5 lamps) with high output ballasts. High-bay fluorescent fixtures have many advantages over metal halides:

- Use 40 to 50 percent less electricity

- Have longer lift, higher light output, and better color rendering (making people and surroundings look better)

- Have instant-on, dimming, and can be controlled with multilevel switching

- Lower risk of catastrophic failure, which can potentially reduce the facility’s insurance cost

Super T8 Fluorescents: Fluorescent lighting technology has achieved new levels of efficiency, color quality, and longevity in a class of products commonly termed high-performance T8 or super T8 systems. High-performance T8 distinguishes an evolving family of new high-efficiency T8 lamps and ballasts that significantly outperform conventional T8 systems. High-performance T8 systems offer the highest mean efficacy of all light sources (lumens per watt). What gives these T8 lamps and ballasts their super status are several technical improvements that combine to provide higher initial lamp output, a higher color rendering index, better lumen maintenance, and improved ballast efficiency. Another recent development in fluorescent lighting is the low wattage lamp, whereby a standard 32-watt 4-foot fluorescent lamp can be replaced with a 30-watt, 28-watt, or even 25-watt replacement lamp. The 28-watt high color-rendering index lamp now is available that has nearly the same lumen output as a commodity 32-watt lamp. These technological changes present an opportunity for the District to retrofit standard T8 lighting when replacement becomes necessary.

Efficiency in Information Technology

Power Management Software: An inexpensive combination of education and software management can save an average of more than $25 per year for each computer in the District. The education component consists of informing users of the energy impacts of leaving on computers, combating myths about the impact of powering on and off computers (it does not harm them), and showing users how to adjust software settings to

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save energy. Often, software that can reduce a computer’s energy use resides on the computer but has not been enabled or has not been fully utilized. The district has already done this using the district KBOX solution to schedule PC shutdown at all sites.

Use of Thin Clients: A thin client is a computer that is connected to a server on which it relies for processing activities. It acts more as a conveyor of data between the server and the user. Because thin clients have no processors, fans, or hard drives, they use about 40 percent less energy than desktop computers. In addition, it is easier for IT departments to manage security and software updates on just a few servers compared to many desktops

Server Virtualization: Historically, school districts and companies have run one application per server, which is not efficient because that application rarely taps the processing capability of the server but uses proportionally more energy. Virtualization software partitions a server into multiple virtual machines that act like separate servers. Each virtual machine, housing its own operating system and application, shares the same server resources, such as processing power and memory, but the virtual machines operate independent of each other. The greatest benefit is improved server utilization, which results in server consolidation and cost savings: a two-processor server running virtualization software can support 8 to 12 applications. Each virtualized server can save the District 7,000 kWh annually.

Kitchen Efficiency Measures Kitchens are the most energy dense areas of schools. Not only do they have a significant amount of equipment, they often have heating and cooling equipment in close proximity. Kitchen operations were observed at Discovery Canyon Phase I and Eagleview Middle School. These two kitchens provide meals for their own schools as well as several other schools. While observed practices were good, some recommendations to improve energy efficiency based on those observations as well as industry best practices are outlined below:

Energy Star-rated Equipment: Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy designed to help consumers save energy by designating equipment as meeting high criteria for energy efficiency. Energy Star-rated kitchen equipment can be up to 60 percent more energy efficient than non-rated equipment. In the case of most kitchen equipment, it is difficult to pay for the replacement of inefficient equipment with the energy savings. Therefore, it is recommended that when the District purchases new kitchen equipment, it buys only Energy Star-rated equipment. Below is a breakdown of rated- and non-rated equipment in the District’s kitchens:

- Energy Star Rated: FWE hot food holding cabinets, Traulsen hot food holding cabinets

- Non-Energy Star Rated: Cleveland Range SteamPro XVI convection steamers, Hobart C64A dishwasher, Traulsen A-Series refrigerators

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Lighting Inside Walk-in Coolers and Freezers: Low-efficiency incandescent bulbs and T-12 fluorescent lamps were observed in coolers and freezers. These could be replaced with compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs and high efficiency T-8 or T-5 lamps. This measure would have a double savings impact because the more efficient fixtures would create less heat inside the walk-ins that the compressors would not have to remove. The District should install CFLs that can withstand freezing temperatures.

Walk-in Door Heater Controllers: Anti-sweat heaters are required in the doors of nearly all refrigerated cases and freezer cases to eliminate condensation of moisture that occurs whenever the door’s temperature is below the kitchen’s dew point temperature. Standard anti-sweat door heaters are typically always on. These heaters use considerable electricity, and the compressors must work to remove heat from the inside of the walk-in. Several heaters were observed to be on during site visits. The District should consider door heater controllers that cycle the heaters on and off to maintain a door temperature about 5°F greater than the kitchen dew point temperature, dramatically reducing the run time of the door heaters.

Economizer for Walk-in Coolers: Air economizers circulate cold outside air through a walk-in cooler to displace mechanical cooling. When the outside air temperature falls below the control set point, the air economizer is enabled and cycles to satisfy the need for cooling from the walk-in cooler thermostat. In mid-winter, the refrigeration compressor may not come on at all for days.

Other Good Practices:

- Ensure dishwashers are turned off at night and on weekends, otherwise they will keep the water tank temperatures at 180°F.

- Keep unnecessary equipment turned off. At one kitchen, all of the infrared heaters above the steam wells were on – their combined plug load is 2.2 kW. These are not necessary over steam wells, and keeping them off could save over $300 per year, not including the reduced load on the air conditioning.

- Schedule equipment on times appropriately. Ensure equipment is not turned on unless it is necessary. Common kitchen practice is to turn everything on at 5 a.m. when the first kitchen employee arrives. Steam wells need only 30 minutes to arrive at temperature.

- Adjust thermostats where necessary. For example, standard operating procedure for steam wells is to turn them to High for a 30-minute warm up period then turn them down to desired temperature. In practice, these are left on High until the end of the lunch service.

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Occupant Equipment Use School and other building occupants should be aware that any small efforts by individuals to conserve energy and other resources can collectively add up to significant cost savings:

Avoid personal refrigerators, microwaves, and coffee pots. D20 is enacting new energy policy that advocates these measures.

Turn off the lights when leaving a room, even if it is for just a few minutes. Turn off lights in unoccupied areas. D20 is enacting new energy policy that advocates these measures.

Have occupants contact facility managers if they feel their area is too bright or the lighting control system is not working properly.

Turn off coffee/tea pots at 10 a.m.

Do not change thermostat settings from the proposed standards.

Replace incandescent lamps with compact fluorescent lamps.

Building temperatures will vary depending on weather conditions and time of day; dress accordingly.

Consider using all radiant heaters for a more comfortable, energy-efficient solution. Though traditional space heaters are small, they can have a big impact on electricity bills. Standard space heaters use 1,200 to 1,500 watts, about one-third the demand of a typical house. Radiant heaters can deliver better comfort, using a fraction of the electricity of space heaters.

Turn off any equipment that is not required. The easiest way to save energy is with careful attention to operate equipment only as much as is required.

Maintain all equipment as suggested by the manufacturer. Equipment maintenance generally improves energy performance, such as cleaning filters and coils on air conditioning and refrigeration equipment.

When occupants are faced with equipment replacements or upgrades, provide the most up-to-date information on the most efficient options.

High Efficiency Equipment at Time of Replacement The ideas presented within this section have been adopted by the D20 Finance Department and all future solicitations as well as current service contract commitment renewal contracts stipulate D20’s requirements concerning high efficiency equipment and procedures.

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Cost savings resulting from high-efficiency equipment upgrades often are not significant enough to cover the entire purchase cost of a new unit within a reasonable payback period. However, the cost savings can cover the incremental cost between a standard efficiency and a high efficiency unit. Rebates from Colorado Springs Utilities also can help to cover the incremental costs of select equipment. Therefore, D20 should always consider high efficiency options when replacing equipment – be it high efficiency heating/cooling systems, office equipment, or appliances - as the equipment reaches the end of its functional lifetime. In addition to the rebate requirements for efficiency, the following organizations also provide information on high-efficiency equipment ratings:

ENERGY STAR

Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE)

Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association (GAMA)

American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)

Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI)

U.S. Department of Energy

In addition to the kitchen equipment mentioned previously, a list of common District equipment that should be considered in this effort is outlined below:

Heating/Cooling Systems

Rooftop Units (RTU), Chillers, Condensing Units, and Split-system Air Conditioning Units: For cooling systems, purchase high efficiency units – regardless of the equipment’s efficiency rating (e.g., energy efficiency ratio, seasonal energy efficiency ratio, kilowatt per ton of refrigeration rating, etc.).

Boilers: Operating efficiencies (86 to 99 percent, depending on firing rate and inlet water temperature) of high efficiency boiler options (including condensing, modulating, and high efficiency non-condensing) can be significantly better than conventional boilers (typically about 80 percent).

Water Heaters: This equipment should meet the required Energy Factor.

Premium Efficiency Motors: National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) premium efficiency (PE) motors should be considered as current motors are replaced.

Office Equipment

Computers and Monitors.

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Printers/Copiers: ENERGY STAR printers and copiers have low-power sleep modes (40 to 60 percent less power demand than standard models) that can be enabled after a specified period without use.

Fax Machines: ENERGY STAR fax machines have low-power sleep modes (40 percent less power demand than standard models) and can scan double-sided pages.

Water Opportunities and Strategies for Getting There

Indoor Water Conservation Measures Low-flow Faucet Aerators: The District should consider replacing the 2.2-gallon per minute (gpm) faucet aerators with 0.5-gpm aerators. In addition, some faucets were observed to have missing aerators that should be replaced with 0.5-gpm models as well. This is a relatively simple retrofit that typically pays back in a year or less. Outdoor Water Conservation Measures Schools traditionally are more water efficient in their landscape irrigation than commercial establishments, as is the case with D20. Nearly all schools irrigate at a rate significantly less than the evapotranspiration (ET) rate of typical ornamental grasses. Only High Plains Elementary School and the Da Vinci Academy appear to be irrigating at a rate higher than ET. In addition, the District is actively installing meters at those facilities that have high irrigation use to save on sewer charges. Site evaluations indicated several schools that are not on the meter list could benefit from meter installation as well (in order of economic benefit): High Plains Elementary School, Explorer Elementary School, Prairie Hills Elementary School, Pioneer Elementary School, Foothills Elementary School, and the Da Vinci Academy. If meters were installed at all of these schools, it is estimated that the District could save up to $35,000 per year in sewer charges. Every school in D20 that is plumbed or served in a manner where a separate irrigation only meter or a domestic water sub meter can be installed has received the advocated upgrade. In addition, D20 grounds staff is evaluating where the type of irrigation heads can be retrofitted to avoid irrigation system seepage at the time of cycle completion, the insertion of rain gauges, and the evaluation of soils to determine the best and most cost effective means of sustaining needed root growth while reducing water delivery.

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Solid Waste

D20 currently procures solid waste hauling services on a District-wide basis while recycling services are procured at the individual building level. Based on an evaluation of District-wide solid waste service levels, where service level is defined by the number and size of containers and frequency of pickup, and the recycling service levels observed during building assessments, the District’s rate of diverting materials from the landfill is estimated to be 3 percent. This estimate could be refined by reviewing assumptions that the solid waste containers are 80 percent full at pickup, that the density of the solid waste is 300 pounds per cubic yard (a factor provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), and expanding the survey of site recycling programs beyond those included in the building assessments conducted as part of this effort. School districts, universities, and numerous other organizations have demonstrated that higher diversion rates are attainable and that achieving higher diversion rates can have a number of benefits. Potential benefits include reduced purchasing due to greater awareness, reduced solid waste hauling costs, and increased staff and student awareness of resource use efficiency. A goal to increase waste diversion by 15 percent in the next year has been proposed by the SCS for D20. Achieving this goal will require that the District increase the quantity of material being diverted from the landfill while maintaining or decreasing the total quantity of waste generated. A number of practices are already in place that can be models for efforts to increase the District’s waste diversion:

A number of elementary schools have good recycling programs that have achieved awareness and support from staff.

Education Administration Center schools have student-implemented paper recycling programs.

Most schools have some kind of toner recycling program.

Human Resources staff self-hauls plastic, aluminum, and glass.

Opportunities

Address purchasing and the reduction of incoming material.

Adopt practices to reduce packaging and disposable material used in food services.

Implement practices to reduce paper consumption.

Seek to replicate successful site-level recycling programs District-wide.

Identify opportunities to divert organic waste to composting.

Adopt policies to ensure that electronic equipment is reused and recycled appropriately.

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A number of approaches are recommended for D20 to realize the above opportunities:

Develop vendor requirements for reduced packaging and bundling of deliveries in the next 6 months. Requirements could be developed collaboratively District-wide and customized for the circumstances at individual sites.

Establish purchasing guidelines for common materials, such as office supplies and electronics that seek to increase recycled content and reduce the toxicity of incoming materials. For example, by specifying that all purchased computer equipment meet the criteria of the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), D20 can acquire computer equipment manufactured with less toxic materials, a high percentage of recycled content, and design for long product life and increased recyclability at the end of life. Similar guidelines could be outlined for office supplies such as paper.

The D20 Office of Sustainability has recommended EPEAT (http://www.epeat.net/) for evaluation by the D20 Contracting and IT departments.

Implement programs in food services to reduce the use of disposable materials and packaging. Some example measures from Boulder Valley School District’s Green Star program include the following:

- Introduce reusable/washable silverware, cups, and bowls and eliminate all disposables.

- Introduce durable trays and/or compostable food containers (assuming that composting services are available).

- Dispense bulk milk into reusable/washable cups and reduce unnecessary packaging.

- Provide only utensils necessary for consuming that day’s menu (e.g., spoon or fork, but not both)

- Provide tableware only for students purchasing lunch to reduce time/energy for cleaning additional tableware.

- Install magnets on trash receptacles to capture utensils that are mistakenly thrown away.

- Limit sales of pre-packaged food and snacks to reduce trash.

D20 has introduced biodegradable liners and reusable baskets to one middle school.

It is anticipated that all D20 MSs will use this starting the ’10-’11 SY. For the ’10-

’11 SY it is also anticipated that some ESs and all HSs will utilize biodegradable and

100% recycled content plates

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Limit or eliminate sales of bottled water. Encourage students and staff to bring their own water bottles from home.

Establish a goal for reducing paper consumption in the District through practices such as electronic documentation and duplex printing.

Some D20 school action plans have introduced or illustrated a continuation of the schools processes and procedures for reducing copy counts and paper consumption.

Seek to replicate successful site-level recycling programs District-wide. One possible approach follows:

- Identify champions at sites with existing recycling programs and potential champions at sites without programs or significant leadership related to recycling.

D20 has created the student led Recyclones program to create interest and solicit champions fro respective student led, school recycling efforts.

- Instruct these champions to conduct high-level assessments of recycling services at their site, including number and availability of containers, materials covered, quality of container labeling, and level of use.

The D20 Office of Sustainability works with each school’s building

manager to introduce the types of needed recycling materials to insure the

success of the single stream recycling process.

- Convene champions and potential champions in a workshop to discuss successful strategies and identify a unified approach to recycling that can apply at most sites.

On April 29, 2010 all D20 principals were introduced to the Recyclones recycling team concept. The approach is to create the necessary student leaders by creating teams within each school and following up with Office of Sustainability support in the form of presentations, competitions, and prizes.

- Based on this unified approach, procure recycling services at the District level to achieve a cost-effective approach. Providers including Waste Management and Bestway appear to offer commercial single-stream services in Colorado Springs.

- If available, seek a single-stream recycling service that combines most or all materials in a single container. Single-stream service simplifies the education required to achieve recycling by eliminating the need to sort materials. Alternatively, request clear and consistent labeling and color coding of containers District-wide to ease the process of educating students and staff on how to recycle.

Single Stream recycling service, as of the ’09 – ’10 SY is being used at 17 D20 sites. The total increase of recycled goods in D20 has moved from a perceived 3% in

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the ’08 – ’09 SY, to 26% in the ’09 – ’10 SY…an increase of 1,200%. The schools wilt SS containers are illustrated below:

Frontier Elementary 3755 Meadow Ridge 1-3FY Academy International 8550 Charity Dr 1-6FY-lkf Antelope Trails Elem 15280 Jessie Dr 1-3fy-lkf Discovery Canyon -Phase 1 1810 Northgate Rd 1-6FY-lkf Discovery Canyon -Phase 2 1-6FY-lkf Da Vinci Academy 1335 Bridle Oaks Dr 13fy-lkf Foothills Elem 825 Allegheny Dr 1-3fy-lkf Mountain View Elem 10095 Lexington Dr 1-6FY-lkf

Pioneer Elem 3663 Woodland Hills Dr 1-3fy-lkf

Ranch Creek Elem 9155 Tutt Blvd 1-3FY Liberty High School 8720 Scarborough Dr 1-6FY-lkf Prairie Hills 8025 Telelgraph Dr 1-3fy SITW & WOLFORD 1810 Northgate Rd 1-3fy Rampart High School 8250 Lexington Dr 1-6fy Mountain Ridge Middle 9150 Lexington Dr 1-6FY-lkf

Challenger MS 10215 Lexington Drive 1-3fy

- Consider competitive or incentive-based programs to encourage recycling. The RecycleMania (http://www.recyclemania.org/) program for universities is a good model.

Identify opportunities to divert organic waste to composting, such as a pilot on-site composting system at the Discovery Campus. On-site composting using equipment such as the Earth Tub has been successfully applied in schools in Eugene, Oregon http://www.uoregon.edu/~recycle/PDFdocuments/EarthTub.pdf). Commercial composting services can be more cost effective and most accept a broader range of materials, such as food waste, soiled or waxed cardboard, paper egg cartons, paper towels and napkins, and paper plates and cups. No commercial compost providers were identified in Colorado Springs at the time this SMP was developed.

The D20 Green Grant program approved nearly $15K for funds to help address and create composting opportunities using garden and comprehensive cafeteria recycling program education and equipment.

Composting activities are very abundant at SITW and the concept has been introduced to a number of schools at both the class and the campus level. Schools are intimidated by composting because of the perception of smell, rodents, clutter, and general untidiness.

Adopt policies to ensure that electronic equipment is reused and recycled appropriately.

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Opportunities include programs to distribute used equipment into the community as well as an increasing prevalence of manufacturer take-back programs. Generic electronic recycling programs also are available.

D20 participates in a program sponsored by Apple to recycle all possible electronic and IT related equipment.

Possible Metrics

Potential metrics, or ways to measure sustainability, with respect to solid waste diversion include the following:

Waste to landfill, mass or volume

Materials recycled, mass or volume

Packaging waste (track for particular sites such as central receiving), mass or volume

Food waste (track for particular food service sites), mass or volume

Material composted, mass or volume

Materials or equipment purchased that conform to purchasing guidelines (e.g., number of computers meeting a particular EPEAT level)

Number of pieces of electronic equipment reused or recycled

Transportation

Currently, D20 maintains the capacity to transport approximately 6,500 students daily for school attendance only, and up to 10,600 students daily when after school activities and work study transportation are considered. The District also offers bus transportation for preschoolers, as well as school of choice students on an application basis to reduce unnecessary car transportation. In addition, transportation staff uses software and manual routing optimization to update and consolidate routes on a regular basis to maximize trip efficiencies.

In regard to equipment, the District operates approximately 145 buses, 65 of which have pre-heaters to reduce morning warm-up idling. All new buses ordered are equipped with pre-heaters and those ordered in 2010 will have improved engine efficiency for better mileage. Another 12 buses (some of the oldest in the fleet) have been retrofitted with particulate reduction devices to reduce emissions. In addition, there is a District-wide bus anti-idling policy to reduce emissions and fuel consumption.

The District has experimented with biodiesel and encountered operational difficulties as a result.

Opportunities

Programs to encourage alternative transportation for students and staff and reduce vehicle

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miles traveled

Extended anti-idling policies and Emission reduction programs

D20 Transportation includes in their anti-idling campaign the following:

• Minimize Warm-Ups (Pre-heaters)

• Limit Warm-Up RPM

• 3 Minute Maximum at all Locations

• EPA Grant funding received in SY 05/06 allowed us to install 16 diesel oxidation catalysts (DOC) in our 1991 model buses. Program run through Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC)

• EPA Grant funding received in SY 05/06 allowed for the use of biodiesel fuels for all of the buses that had been fit with DOC. RACQ provided funding for the difference in cost between biodiesel and #2 diesel. We allowed all buses to use the biodiesel fuel.

• In combination, these modifications led to a significant decrease in particulate emissions. When the biodiesel incentive was withdrawn, we found no detectible increase in particulate emissions from this bus group. We did experience additional breakdowns in our biodiesel buses during cold weather. We also experienced a much higher rate of filter replacement requirements in those buses using the biodiesel.

• EPA Grant funding received in SY 09/10 allowed us to install an additional 10 diesel oxidation catalysts (DOC) and five engine preheaters in some of our 1998 model buses. Program run through Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC)

• New Clean Cities grant program expected later this month. State representatives from Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will inspect fleet. Potential for grant funding of 67 more emission reduction devices (DOC/pre-heater) on 47 additional buses.

Transportation demand management and partnering with City of Colorado Springs

Alternative fuel specifications for non-bus fleet vehicles

D20 Transportation Fuel conservation measures include:

• Gradual Acceleration

• Anticipate Stops well in Advance

• Do not exceed speed limits – it uses significantly more fuel and gets you ticketed

• Follow the idling policy

• Minimize A/C use (it’s for the students)

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• Fleet monitors tire pressure, keep engines tuned and changes filters on a regular basis

Resource conservation, new fuels, and recycling (e.g., water, oil, etc.)

D20 Transportation recycling, biodiesel use results, and resource emission initiatives include:

• All Around Antifreeze Program: Vendor provides barrels – we save used antifreeze – vendor picks up product and processes for resale as recycled antifreeze.

• Transportation recycles all paper products through use of the Waste Management recycling bin located adjacent to the district warehouse. Department employees have a container in the driver’s ready room for recycling plastic containers

• Bus Salvage Program: Past practice was to sell older buses for highest bid. There is a much greater conservation and cost benefit to extracting all useable components (from engines to lens covers) and using them on like buses. Remaining bus hulk is then transported to salvage yard for processing.

• FILCare Program: Recycling of all used oil filters. Vendor provides and collects barrels – filters are crushed – oil is extracted and sold as fuel oil – cartridges are melted down and used for new rebar and barbed wire products

• ThermoFluids Program: Recycling of all used engine oil – vendor collects oil from terminal and reuses product for oil heaters

• Grant funding was used for biodiesel during 2005/2006 to offset higher price.

• Publicized improvement with biodiesel in MPG not realized.

• Additional cold weather challenges with biodiesel.

• Additional plugged-filter road calls with biodiesel.


Building off existing efforts, D20 can work toward reduced fuel consumption and lower emissions and resource use from transportation operations in a number of ways:

Develop an anti-idling policy for non-District vehicles, particularly related to parent drop-off and pick-up.

Sustainability initiatives related to transportation are a fundamental, one of five, portion of each schools sustainability action plan.

Explore a partnership with the public transit of Colorado Springs (Mountain Metropolitan Transit) that would enable more staff and high school students to take advantage of existing

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or proposed bus service. This partnership could involve routing collaboration to reach more District staff and students, as well as an Eco-Pass program to reduce the cost of bus passes for staff and students.

Consider safety infrastructure on walking or biking routes to reduce the need for busing short distances and increase walking and biking opportunities.

Expand previous Safe Routes to School programs (e.g., Walking School Bus, crossing guard training) to engage students and the community around walking and biking to school.

Possibilities to improve mass transit interface

Currently Significant Route Limitations

Future potential especially for HS students.

Would closely review the DPS program regarding token purchases and distribution.

Develop an incentive program that rewards staff members for carpooling and helps match potential car pool participants.

Communicate with other fleet operators using biodiesel to determine if operational challenges encountered in experiments might be resolved. Potential contacts include Boulder Valley School District and Poudre School District.

Retrofit the two-bay bus wash facility to capture and reuse wash water. This strategy would reduce the volume of wash water and reduce the fees for stormwater/runoff capture.

Reuse wash water possibilities:

Increasing number of vendors with equipment options.

Budget considerations affect pursuit.

We will continue to research available alternatives.

Recycle batteries, paper, oil and other fluids, scrap metal, shop rags, parts washers, hot water solvents, etc.

Possible Metrics

Potential metrics, or ways to measure sustainability, with respect to transportation include the following:

Percent of student/staff population using alternative transportation (non-car)

Percent of student population riding buses

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GHG emissions from fleet vehicles generated/reduced annually (pounds/tons)

Fuel to student ratio compared to benchmarks (gallons/student)

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4.2 The SPP as a Roadmap As a roadmap, the SPP consists of Sustainability Policy (the Why?), goals and strategies for action (the What?), and organizational capacity to achieve stated goals (the How?). The diagram below illustrates the process used to develop both the SMP and this SPP.

Implementing a sustainability program across all D20 departments requires a comprehensive plan that integrates both the goals (the How?) and the strategies (the What?). Coordinating these two processes, coupled with clear focus on the purpose and operational aim of policy, calls for dedicated, informed, and empowered champions across the district who are capable and well supported in their quest to improve both operational effectiveness and sustainable decision making.

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The assignment of unique responsibilities/roles to accomplish approved sustainability tasks will occur using a role matrix. The role matrix serves to illustrate the anticipated participants and affected stakeholders during the five phases of program delivery.

The Why?

The What?

The How?

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Phases Administrators Staff School Green

Teams

Community Partners/School

Support Organizations

D20 Office of Sustainability

/D20 Green Team

Advocacy

Serve as advocates and champions, influencing and defending policy and helping create and administer the school's sustainability action plan

Serve on committees or contribute to activities that help spread the message

Promote the benefits of the school's action plan and spread awareness across the school/school district

Utilize community resources to advocate for school or district specific initiatives

Serve as the district champion and voice to spread awareness, accomplishments, and ideas

Education

Devote resources, time, and focus to training on the implementation of sustainable action plan approved activities and acknowledged best practices

Become knowledgeable on sustainable practices, curricular tools, and the school's action plan

Research and recommend programs for educating school/school district administrators and key staff on their implementation responsibilities

Provide support in areas of specialization as requested by school staff

Develop an education and training plan with the support of District resources and with accreditation approved/required goals

Initiation

Initiate action plan/sustainability initiatives by appointing leadership and additional staff and student participation

Report challenges, provide feedback, and request additional needed support regarding activity initiation

Solicit feedback from principals and peer groups. Make recommendations and create dialogue with school team and building leadership


Conduct assessments, host Q/A sessions as requested by school leaders and school green teams

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Project Mgmt.

Emphasize importance of the entire school community participation. Approve and provide needed focus to planned activities

Become part of the project team; provide information and ideas, maintain open communication with all stakeholders and complete assigned documentation.

Stay on top of assigned activities, progress, results, and opportunities to make need strategic changes


Oversee documentation of progress and provide solutions to questions or obstacles as requested by school green teams/building leaders

Execution Allocate needed resources

Coordinate with team members, students, and outside contractors

Communicate status, provide acknowledgement of progress, recognize outstanding performance


Provide solutions and timely feedback to implementations targets, communication strategies, and scope of work and funding proposals

If D20 is fully successful institutionalizing sustainability, it will no longer be necessary to reference policy, action plans, and the sustainability pledges of specific organizations. Sustainability will be wholly integrated into strategic (the Why?), core process (the What?), practical (the How?), and organization wide decision-making, practice, and measured outcomes (see illustration above). Most importantly, sustainability will be part of the D20 culture, where awareness and education, communications, measurement, and recognition are systemic across all organizational boundaries. Institutionalized sustainability demonstrates that each individual recognizes and exercises his/her role to both lighten and improve the impact we create while establishing a lasting legacy for which education strives. Success will be evidenced when a sense of place and stewardship is communicated within the D20 culture and exemplified in the operation of the built environment.

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5.0 SPP Opportunities and Goals This section presents the key short- and long-term goal recommendations organized into respective operational categories (Sustainability Leadership, Sustainability Training Awareness and Leadership, Resource Conservation and Waste Diversion/Recycling). The recommendations have evolved from the first year’s SMP document and sustainability program implementation, feedback from schools, the D20 Green Team, and other district organizations, research into the practices of other school district’s, regional and national industry standard’s for sustainable operations, and the SPP development process. Goals are the next step for establishing what the District hopes to achieve both in the near term and the long term. The goals presented here evolved from dialogue within the SCS and a workshop with a broader group of D20 staff. These goals fall into four broad areas outlined below and will evolve to include more specific sub-goals as the sustainability development process moves forward. Each goal is noted with either a ST (short term) or LT (long term) designation. Short term goals are anticipated to be initiated or accomplished within 12 months of program approval. Long-term goals are anticipated to be initiated or completed within 2 – 5 years of program approval.

Sustainability Leadership

Create D20 Office of Sustainability with the following goals for 2009-2010:

- Benchmark energy performance of each D20 school using regional and national metrics (COMPLETE).

- Develop a real-time energy tracking tool for each school (required capital funding, $120K), LT.

- Facilitate and support the creation of District sustainability strategies for schools through communication, feedback, and strategic planning measures (ON- GOING).

- Create tools for D20 schools to manage their energy and utility use (part of $120K capital finding project documented above, LT)

- Create facility sustainability assessment tools for D20 schools (COMPLETE). - Communicate monthly with each D20 school regarding energy use

(COMPLETE). - Publish quarterly reports for schools to illustrate energy use, trends, and

benchmarking data (ST).

- Provide sustainability program reporting to the Board of Education annually (ON-GOING).

- Recognize and award outstanding energy performers and leadership (ST).

Create the D20 Green Team whose annual directives are outlined below:

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- Review and seek means and methods to implement appropriate SMP recommendations (ON-GOING).

- Develop and deliver high performance design standards for new and retrofit construction (COMPLETE).

- Evaluate each school’s energy performance and sustainability action plan quarterly.

- Evaluate waste diversion performance (ON-GOING). - Evaluate and recommend the best use of sustainability recognition monies semi-

annually (ST). - Evaluate and recommend the best use of GREEN GRANT monies semi-

annually (ST).

- Develop mission, resource, and areas of responsibility recommendations for the D20 Office of Sustainability (ON-GOING).

Increase the nutritional value of cafeteria meals. Perhaps standards are being met but a great opportunity exists to improve student health, nutrition awareness, and utilize the cafeteria as a classroom (LT).

Schools are expected to comply, or seek amicable strategies and recommendations for common ground, with the new, 2010 D20 Energy Management Policy (ST).

Sustainability Training, Awareness, and Recognition

Create sustainability awareness strategies for each D20 school (ST):

- Provide strategies and tools for schools to plan, conduct, and evaluate sustainability self-assessments and action plans.

- Facilitate schools with sustainability awareness efforts (school and District specific). - Support the infusion of sustainability into appropriate curriculum tracks. - All D20 school’s are sustainability certified by the end of calendar year 2010.

Recognize outstanding sustainability performance (classroom, energy use, awareness campaigns, curriculum opportunities, and assessments and action plans) by setting aside $50,000 of saved energy cost dollars (ST).

Create a sustainability teacher training program for primary and secondary curriculum support (LT).

Work with organizations such as the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education (CAEE), National Energy Education Development (NEED), Colorado Energy Science Center (CESC), and Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU), to assist in the development of sustainability curriculum/modules for D20 students and staff (ST).

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Resource Conservation

Reduce utility consumption by 1.5 percent per year through the year 2019 (total reduction of 15% in 10 years) (LT).

o This goal is achieved by:

Providing incentives and recognition to students and staff based upon performance

Fund water/energy conservation projects and retro commissioning activities

Adherence to the recommended energy policy

Pursuit of funding for a dedicated school site energy coordinator representing the interests and performance for all D20 schools

Develop, fund, and manage a 5-year energy-related capital project portfolio (LT).

Install a computer power management process and intelligence across the district (COMPLETE)

Evaluate and complete lighting retrofits for all fixtures deemed inefficient (LT).

Convert all water heaters/boilers to 98.5% efficient, condensing type units (LT).

Build all new schools and complete all retrofits using the D20 High Performance Design Guidelines (LT)

Expand the installation and use of synthetic turfs across the district (LT).

Develop strategies to evaluate and deploy off the power grid technologies at D20 sites (LT).

Continue to increase the number of paperless records and communications used across the district (ST).

Fund highest priority energy and utility conservation projects as determined by the Office of Sustainability and Facilities Management (ST).

Empower Building Managers to enforce the current energy policy. Reassign Building Managers from working under principals to working under the direction of Facilities Management (ST).

Pursue funding for a district energy coordinator to champion resource conservation and provide leadership and on site support for administrators, teachers, and building managers (LT).

Implement out of session procedures for energy conservation across the district (e.g.

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parking lot lights, AC, summer sessions, teacher work days, etc.) (ST)

Hold administrators accountable to building energy performance and compliance with both the Sustainability and Energy Conservation Policies (ST).

Insure all purchases, where applicable, provide preferences for products with green certification or ENERGY STAR labeling (ST).

Begin monthly meetings between the Office of Sustainability, Facilities Management, and the PSSG to discuss projects, program goals, and utility bill driven project and process opportunities (ST).

Host a Resource Conservation and High Performance Building conference for in-district personnel (ST).

Partner with the City of Colorado Springs and surrounding school districts to advance mutual interests and goals surrounding transportation demand management (LT).

Investigate and set goals for a Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) reduction program/practices for both staff members and students, including carpooling and remote educational/sporting event opportunities (LT).

Waste Diversion and Recycling

Increase waste diversion rate by 50 percent in the next five years (starting ’09 – ’10) (LT) (COMPLETE).

Increase the number of schools utilizing single-stream recycling; to include the equipment necessary to employ a district wide recycling operation (ST) (COMPLETE).

Schools and their cafeterias shall create means and methods to initiate a compost based recycling program (LT).

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6.0 Sustaining the Sustainability

Creating the operational structure and attaching the necessary leadership imperative to the strategies, recommendations, and goals documented in the SPP will place D20 on a solid path toward more sustainable operations. These measures provide the beginnings of the institutional framework necessary to perpetuate sustainability, generate cost savings, conserve resources, provide for a more productive and more comfortable working environment and culture, and empower staff and students to perform their day to day tasks with sustainability in mind. However, it is important to note that this document merely documents steps along the way to sustainability. Sustainability will not be achieved in isolation, by a few schools, or by a few administrators and their staffs. Sustainability will be achieved by the collective effort of the D20 community, singularly focused on their commitment to create for the future a better inheritance and greater possibilities than they received. Institutionalized sustainability demonstrates that each individual recognizes and exercises his/her role to both lighten and improve the impact we create while establishing a lasting legacy for which education strives. Success will be evidenced when a sense of place and stewardship is communicated within the D20 culture and exemplified in the operation of the built environment.

To verify what opportunities exist across the district and manage opportunities going forward, a team or representatives from each D20 department will need to be designated and charged with the responsibility of growing sustainability within their organization. It is anticipated a team of this nature will meet quarterly to report on progress, new strategies, and goal attainment.

The remainder of this document provides the ‘How’ type, small steps to begin the institution of sustainability across all district departments. Some items will evolve into projects themselves; some will inspire new goals and paths toward the realizing of enterprise wide sustainability operations and decision making. With each step, the process grows, however the capabilities of the organization grow in kind.

Facilities Maintenance 1. Carpentry Recycle all materials possible

2. Electrical

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Complete the conversion of fluorescent light fixtures to T-8s with electronic ballasts by the end of 2011.

Continue to include motion sensors to control lighting. Install power factor correction devices on schools/facilities needing correction by the end of

2011. 3. Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Institute a proactive preventative maintenance program that, on an ongoing basis, locates

and numbers all existing equipment and catalogs any new equipment. On an on-going basis insure all equipment is noted in facility database work order system

and evaluate PM schedule and equipment performance. Institute a plan to thoroughly clean all unit ventilators on a 10-year cycle. Evaluate district wide equipment PM schedule and verify legitimacy of all activities and

include new tasks as necessary. 4. Locksmithing Continue to recycle all scrap brass and sell the scrap twice each year. Continue to recycle all scrap aluminum and sell the scrap twice each year. Rebuild door closures instead of purchasing new closures every 2 years.

5. Painting Use lowest volatile organic carbon (VOC) paints meeting U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) guidelines for all applications as projects arise. Use latex products on all interior applications as projects arise. Use natural hand cleaners instead of distillates at all times.

6. Plumbing Continue to replace all large, traditional hydronic pumps with fractional horsepower pumps

on a lifecycle basis. Continue to replace all water-cooled refrigeration units with premium efficiency air-cooled

condensing units on a lifecycle basis. 7. Theater Shut down all theaters, gymnasiums, and parking lot lights each summer to save energy and

to reduce supervision efforts. By the fall of 2011, encourage all theater and music instructors to avoid using theater lighting

for general purposes and to turn off house lights when not needed. 8. Business Service/Finance Expand partnerships with the City and the County, and coordinate mutual services and

operations. 9. D20 TV Create an on going TV based production capturing sustainability efforts made by schools.

10. D20 Community Relations Goals Coordinate a competition to reduce desk-use paper by 10 percent by the end of 2011.

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Analyze the survey for distributing the newsletter by the end of 2010, and determine the best approach for reducing over publication and distribution.

Use completed SMS to help inform all community, staff, and students about specific policies and procedures during 2006 and 2007. (sustainable education)

11. Learning Services/IT Make all available curriculum documents, including newsletters, essential instructional

standards, curriculum guides, and student assessment frameworks, electronic or web-based documents through the District website or electronic document library by April of 2011.

Reduce 50 percent of paper-based documents distributed by curriculum and instruction by April of 2011.

12. Custodial Continue to identify and use cleaning and finishing products that are Green SealTM

approved with a goal that all products are approved. Switch from the current floor finish and floor stripper to green products for all District

facilities by the end of 2010. 13. Food Services Reduce disposable paper and plastic service items by 20 percent by the end of 2011. Food

Service will implement a "reduce-reuse-recycle" program with the students and staff by Aug, 2011.

During 2010 investigate the opportunities, costs, and benefits of energy and water conservation in kitchens.

Continue recycling efforts to reduce solid waste by 10 percent each year starting in 2010. 14. Information Technology Beginning in 2010, recycle all items that are not repairable at the central office instead of

sending them back to schools. Achieve full implementation by the end of 2011. Continue the District-wide paperless transition to reduce paper use by half at all facilities.

15. Purchasing Review the EPA Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) guidelines and use the

Responsible Purchasing Network (responsiblepurchasing.org) to adopt any measures that will work for the warehouse by the end of 2010.

Use paperless procedures to place orders with suppliers. 16. Planning, Design, and Construction Utilize D20 High Performance Design Guidelines in the planning, design, and constriction

of all future schools and major renovations. In addition, utilize the HPDG to support the creation of revised educational building specifications for elementary, middle, and high schools by 2011.

17. General Counsel/Risk Management

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Implement a wellness program and obtain Wellness Council of America’s (WELCOA) “Well Workplace” Bronze designation by the end of the 2010-2011 school year.

18. Security Develop and implement an online incident reporting system by 2011.

19. Staff Development Implement a new program management software system by the end of 2007 that will

eliminate paper for registration processing and course work confirmation. Create sustainable education materials and kits for teachers at all levels to introduces and

further applicable sustainability learning opportunities by 2011. 20. Transportation Institute more efficient bus routes to reduce the number of bus/transport routes by the end

of 2011. Prepare a request for proposals (RFP) for a GPS/AVL system to track school buses by

November of 2010. Successfully prepare and submit EPA documents for the Clean School Bus grant program by

July 1, 2011. By fall 2011, use the current routing system to evaluate bus routes and times. Evaluate the

data gathered to see where route adjustments can be made to increase efficiency and effective use of vehicles.

21. Facilities Management/Finance Create an energy rebate program (“Energy Rules”) to include participation of all schools by

the end of 2011.

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