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BUSINESS AND OPERATIONS MANAGER'S MEMO
DATE: 2/28/2006 TO: SCHOOL DIRECTORS CC: ARMANDO VILASECA, SUPERINTENDENT FROM: JOHN C. GIFFORD, BUSINESS AND OPERATIONS MANAGER RE: UPDATE ON UTILITIES One area we have been working on is preventive maintenance with an eye to reducing the cost of utilities and continuing to have clean and safe schools. In August I gave you an after action report for the conclusion of FY2005. This note is an update through the invoices we have paid in February. We continue to save money. Electricity: We have used 79,560KWH less this year than the average through February for the most recent four years. Since a KWH costs about 11.93¢; that means we would have paid $9,491.53 more than we have so far this year. Because the cost of electricity continues to climb we are not saving compared to what we spend in the past. We have actually spent $7,319.70 more this year than on average over the same span of time. Natural Gas: We've used 113,997 cubic feet (CCF) less this year than the average. If we had paid for that at the current rate, it would have cost and additional $22,793.97. In this case we have actually spent $4,746 less this year so far. I like to compare the use of natural gas to the average temperature. A warm winter or a cold winter can change the fuel usage without any change in our preventive maintenance program. One measure of the severity of the weather is "Heating Degree Days" (HDD). HDD is a measure of how far the average daily temperature is below 65°. So the higher the HDD means more energy is required to bring the building temperature up to a reasonable level. Over the past years we have averaged 26.857 CCF per HDD. So far this year we are operating at about 24.7. This is a good thing. We are continuing to make improvements. You will see new lights in the theater next week. We will be lighting that room for about 1/7 of the KWH compared to last year. This morning Bob Mcgoon told me that the C02 sensors have been installed. This is a system we are experimenting with in the theater. It lets the room temperature go lower when there are no people in the room. When the sensor detects human exhaust (C02) it triggers the heating system to raise the temperature to a more comfortable level. We will continue to see savings. This does not mean that we will spend less than earlier, just less than we would have if no action had been taken. This is what we can do to mitigate the raising cost of energy. Kudos to Bob Mcgoon, Bruce Mcgoon, Steve Scribner (Hi-Tech
Electrical Systems), Ricky Johnson and Climate Systems Incorporated. Along with the
rest of the maintenance and custodial teams these folks are successfully working
to lower the energy usage here in the JCG
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