Illinois’ McLean County Unit 5 school district has saved about $7.6 million since starting an energy conservation program seven years ago.
Expected energy costs from August 2005 to July 2012 would have been $28.3 million, based on the 2004-05 performance. Instead, actual energy costs were just under $19.5 million over that period — a savings of $8.8 million before expenses for the program.
In the seven years since the energy-saving program began, utility expenses for the district have decreased even while the number of students has increased by nearly 17 percent, air conditioning has been added to six buildinggs, the square footage of building space in the district has increased by more than 20 percent and the price per unit for utilities such as water and electricity have increased.