Richmond School District earns prestigious energy conservation award

By Melanie Franner

It’s not often that a school district takes the lead in and outside of the classroom. The Richmond School District has managed to do just that and, as a result, is the 2014 recipient of the prestigious Power Smart Leader award, BC Hydro’s highest level of customer recognition for energy conservation.

“Power Smart Leaders are a select group of BC Hydro customers who continuously demonstrate a best-in-class approach to strategic energy management and an ongoing commitment to energy conservation in British Columbia,” states Joanna Sofield, general manager of Power Smart at BC Hydro.

The Power Smart Leader award is part of BC Hydro’s Power Smart Excellence Awards program. The Power Smart Excellence Awards program has been in existence since 2003, but the Power Smart Leader award was created in 2010. Since then, it has been given out to only 25 organizations.

C IS FOr COnSErvAtIOn

The Richmond School District’s Power Smart Leader award comes on the heels of the district’s long and dedicated commitment to energy conservation.

“The Richmond School District has been very proactive in energy conservation for many years,” Dina Mously, manager of sustainability and energy with the Richmond School District, explains. “We have incorporated energy conservation in our district-wide Environmental Stewardship Policy since 2011. The policy has eight distinct focus areas, and energy conservation supported by a green fund is one of them. The Environmental Stewardship Policy has been in place since 1998 and acknowledges the school district’s responsibility to educate students and provide opportunities for staff to develop social responsibility, ecological literacy, sustainable behaviours and actions.”

The Richmond School District uses four developmental objectives, of which environmental stewardship is one, as “lenses” to help the staff ensure that the district stays focused on key priorities.

According to Mously, the Richmond School District operates on a threeyear evolving sustainability and energy management plan. Not only does the district have a dedicated department to support this cause, but it also has managed to consistently reduce its energy consumption over the past seven years.

In 2012, the district reduced total electricity consumption by approximately 330,000 kilowatt-hours, which

BC Hydro president and CEO Jessica McDonald and Richmond School District general manager of facilities and maintenance Mike Beausoleil.

was a two per cent reduction over the previous year. In 2013, the district further reduced consumption by more than 600,000 kilowatt-hours, which is almost a four per cent reduction in usage over the previous year.

And all of these kilowatt-hour savings translate into real dollars.

“We saved the equivalent of $136,000 in 2014 over 2013 as a result of our energy conservation efforts,” states Mously.

P IS FOr PrOACtIvE

A significant part of the Richmond School District’s most recent ongoing success with energy conservation is due to its commitment to BC Hydro’s Continuous Optimization program. The district has successfully implemented the program in 10 of its 48 schools.

“We started with our secondary schools,” states Mously, adding that the secondary schools are the largest

ones in the district. “We will be phasing the program into the remaining 38 elementary schools over the next couple of years.”

As part of the Continuous Optimization program, the Richmond School District completed a comprehensive baseline study to quantify energy use and measure long-term performance against the baseline and year over year. Real-time metering and energy-management software have been installed in the 10 secondary schools, and are used to monitor consumption, as well as internal benchmarking and cost by utility type analysis for all schools.

It is the adoption of initiatives like the Continuous Optimization program that sets the Richmond School District apart in its goal to be a leader in the drive for energy conservation.

“The Richmond School District has a long history of energy efficiency and sustainability projects, and the Power Smart Leader award represents the culmination of their efforts,” states Sofield. “Richmond School District has undertaken many energy efficiency projects, as well as behavioural engagement activities to reduce consumption. Most importantly, the organization has built a culture of conservation within the schools and district-wide.”

According to Sofield, the success of the Richmond School District’s energy conservation program is due, in part, to the strong support from senior management, the board of trustees, administration, facilitators, educators and, of course, the engaged and proactive students.

r IS FOr rECOGnItIOn

BC Hydro’s 2014 Power Smart Excellence Awards ceremony took place in Vancouver on Oct. 16 at Simon Fraser University’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. The biannual event saw 30 award winners and 13 finalists being congratulated for their efforts.

“We were asked by BC Hydro to submit as a nominee for the 2014 Power Smart Leader award,” says Mously. “For

From left: BC Hydro key account manager Wayne Cousins, Richmond School District purchasing manager Anita Doig, Richmond School District general manager of facilities and maintenance Mike Beausoleil and Richmond School District manager of sustainability and energy Dina Mously.

us, it was an honour just to be nominated.”

As for the district’s reaction to being awarded a winner, Mously says it was a thrill.

“I can’t say that we were necessarily surprised because everyone in the district was aware of our initiatives and of how hard everyone had worked to achieve the results we did,” she says. “But it sure was wonderful to hear the news. There’s no doubt that everyone is very happy to have our hard work recognized.”

The Richmond School District’s energy conservation success isn’t limited to its district alone. Because the district energy management team shares its successes, best practices and expertise with other school districts, it ends up being a victory for the entire educational community.

“Richmond School District’s success helps engage more people within their own organization to be a part of ongoing energy efficiency initiatives and it helps others in the industry to realize that there is tremendous potential,” says Sofield. “Their leadership in energy conservation encourages other school districts across the province to become more engaged in energy efficiency.” b