District praised for savings and innovation

HARSHAW TRANE

News release

The Danville Schools Board of Education celebrated the district’s recent ENERGY STAR award for Danville High School at the May 15 board meeting. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) prestigious ENERGY STAR is the national symbol for protecting the environment through superior energy efficiency. This signifies that the building performs in the top 25 percent of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency. 

“We are very pleased that our school district is becoming more energy efficient. Every dollar that we save can go towards our staff and students,” said Danville Schools Director of Administrative Services, Christy Denny. Our partnership with Harshaw Trane has helped reduce our electric, gas, and water usage throughout our school system and we look forward to continued success.”

To earn the ENERGY STAR awards, the district began a partnership with Louisville-based energy services company Harshaw Trane in 2008 to update facilities by taking the following actions:

• HVAC system replacement (geothermal heat pumps with dedicated ventilation system) at Danville High School 

• District-wide lighting retrofit

 Installation of a district-wide building automation system

• Addressed maintenance and reliability issues of HVAC

• Danville High School day lighting

• Danville High School gymnasium roof replacement

Commercial buildings that earn the ENERGY STAR use an average of 35 percent less energy than typical buildings and release 35 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Danville Schools improved its energy performance by managing energy strategically across the entire district and by making cost-effective improvements to its buildings. The district has saved a total of $1,426,273 in energy costs since 2008. Since its baseline year, the district has prevented:

• 4,779 Passenger cars not driven for one year

• 51,346 Barrels of oil not burned

• 2,834 Households worth of electricity use for one year

• 181 Acres of trees preserved from deforestation

“Under Dr. Keith Look’s leadership Danville High School has become ENERGY STAR certified,” said Kyle Johnson, Harshaw Trane Education Sustainability Leader. “This certification is validation of all the hard work that Dr. Look and his team have done to provide their students and staff the best possible learning environment while being fiscally responsible. We look forward to driving more energy savings through our partnership in the years to come.”

About Harshaw Trane

Harshaw Trane (www.harshawtrane.com) creates and sustains high performing, efficient and secure facility environments. An intelligent building technology and energy services provider, the company employs 280 highly-trained associates including Certified Energy Managers and LEED® Accredited Professionals, is an ENERGY STAR Product and Services Provider and is a founding member of the Kentucky Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. Harshaw Trane is headquartered in Louisville and has offices in Lexington and Bowling Green, Kentucky, and Evansville, Indiana.