These solar panels, atop a Pleasanton Unified school building, provide the building with 20 to 22 percent of its energy. Lodi Unified School District is looking into a similar project within the next year. (Courtesy photo)

Going green: District hires consultant

Lodi Unified aims to find ways to conserve energy in coming years

Windmills at McNair High School? Solar panels on top of the district office?

Sound too far off?

Maybe not, says Art Hand, assistant superintendent of facilities and planning at Lodi Unified School District.

Lodi Unified will partner with a consultant during the next few years to find ways to reduce the amount of energy the district consumes and tap into renewable energy resources.

Tom Spivey of Strategic Energy Consulting, Inc., based in Scottsdale, Ariz., said the district can save tens of thousands of dollars by making changes, some large and some small, in how it uses energy.

His advice will cost the district $122,000. There's one catch though: If Lodi Unified doesn't save at least as much money within one year of implementing his suggestions, Spivey will eat the difference.

"We, in essence, would ask them to put their money where their mouth is," Hand said.

Strategic Energy Consulting will prepare a report that examines different ways the district can cut back on its energy use.

According to Hand, the first draft of that report will be ready within four months.

Hand said the district is currently going after the "low-hanging fruit," small changes it can make to realize savings as fast as possible.

Such changes could include changing the type of lighting the district uses in some of its schools, putting a device, called an "energy miser," on school vending machines that would essentially shut the machines down during times when they are unlikely to be used and waterless urinals.

Hand said he's not quite sure how waterless urinals work, but said they could help district save quite a bit of water.

Lodi Unified will also work to line up rebates with local utilities. Hand said the first rebate application will be submitted by May 1.

Spivey added that the district could also save money by making sure it gets the best possible rates from the utility.

According to Spivey, different commercial energy users get different rates depending on what time of day they use the most energy. By making sure Lodi Unified's schools and other buildings are on the best possible rate, the district could save a good chunk of change.

Eventually, Hand and Spivey said, they would look at the possibility of using both wind and solar energy installations at schools and the Lodi Unified's district office.

Within a year, Hand said, he will most likely recommend to the board that the district start negotiations with a large energy company that would install solar panels on district buildings with large, flat rooftops.

The company would then take the energy that the district gets from the solar panels and sell it back to the district at a reduced price.

By purchasing, installing and maintaining the panels, large corporations receive tax breaks from the government that wouldn't be available to a public entity like a school district, Spivey said.

Meanwhile, the district gets energy at a reduced price, doesn't have to worry about installation and maintenance and creates what district officials say is a great learning opportunity for their students.

The district would also be able to buy back the solar panels through the deal.

Pleasanton Unified School District partnered with Honeywell early last year to put solar panels on several schools.

Larry Lagatta, director of maintenance, operations and transportation at Pleasanton Unified, said the district has panels up and running at two schools. Those panels provide 20 to 22 percent of the schools' energy, for which the district pays approximately 75 percent of what it would normally pay.

"We're very happy with it," Lagatta said.

Eventually, Hand said, Lodi Unified will also look into installing windmills at various schools in north Stockton, like McNair and Bear Creek high schools.

"The wind can really get whipping out there," Hand said. "We're going to explore it and see what happens."

Both Lagatta and Spivey said schools can often incorporate the energy saving plans into the classroom.

At one school in Pleasanton Unified, Lagatta said, students can go to a kiosk and see how much power the solar panels are producing at any given time.

Spivey said students can also get involved by learning energy-saving habits, like remembering to turn off the lights when leaving the classroom.

"A lot of times the kids go home and tell their parents to turn the lights off," Spivey said.

Though solar panels and windmills at schools might be a ways off, Hand still can't wait to get the project off the ground.

"It's great for the environment. It's great for us during these hard financial times."

Contact reporter Amanda Dyer at amandad@lodinews.com.