From classrooms to cash incentives: How Centennial School District is leading in energy efficiency

From classrooms to cash incentives: How Centennial School District is leading in energy efficiency


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Since 2005, Centennial School District has worked with Energy Trust of Oregon to create a brighter, more sustainable future for its students. Spanning nine schools and four partner locations, the district has been a consistent advocate for energy efficiency and innovation in education.

One of the key ways the district has demonstrated this commitment is through active participation in Energy Trust’s Strategic Energy Management (SEM) program. By engaging with SEM, the district has gained valuable tools and resources that have inspired ongoing efforts to reduce energy consumption and foster an eco-friendly learning environment. Over the years, these efforts have resulted in nearly $495,400 in cash incentives from Energy Trust’s existing buildings program, with $28,900 of that directly tied to their participation in SEM since 2018.

SEM provides a roadmap for savings
SEM has played a pivotal role in guiding the district’s energy-saving initiatives. The program provides organizations with the knowledge to understand how they use energy, identify sources of waste and implement strategies to track and reduce energy usage. Centennial School District has leveraged these insights to achieve substantial energy savings. Since joining SEM in 2018, the district has saved nearly 1.5 million annual kilowatt hours and 203,000 annual therms. Practices such as conducting night audits, training staff on start-up and shut-down schedules and making incremental facilities upgrades have helped the district improve energy efficiency over time.

In 2020, the district’s energy efficiency journey took a significant leap forward when county voters approved a $65 million school construction bond. This funding, combined with cash incentives from Energy Trust, enabled the district to apply the lessons learned from SEM to a series of facility updates. These included classroom renovations and crucial energy efficiency improvements.

“Our SEM participation greatly informed the energy efficiency upgrades, energy management, and other related activities,” said Jason LaFarge, director of facilities at Centennial School District.

Transforming learning environment with HVAC upgrades
One of the most impactful projects was HVAC system direct digital controls (DDC) upgrades made at seven of the district’s schools throughout 2022 and 2023. The existing systems were outdated, with failing pneumatic controls and compressors that frequently broke down, making it difficult to maintain comfortable classroom environments. In fact, the system was so outdated that custodians had to operate it by hand each morning, leading to inefficiencies and frequent system failures.

Guided by the SEM program, the district began a comprehensive retro-commissioning process, coordinated by Energy Trust, to inspect and analyze its systems. The inspection revealed significant issues with the pneumatic system, prompting the district to upgrade to a DDC system. These new controls were installed in phases to minimize disruption to school activities.

The results of the HVAC upgrade were immediate and transformative. The DDC systems provided better temperature control in classrooms, reduced maintenance costs and created more comfortable learning spaces for students and staff. Additionally, the district received over $109,400 in Energy Trust cash incentives for the upgrades and is now saving nearly $127,800 annually on utility bills.

The new systems also allowed the facilities team to monitor and control temperatures across all classrooms from a central computer, enabling quicker diagnoses and repairs. “Rather than going out into the field, we can just pull up into the computer and know what we’re getting into before we even get to a problem,” LaFarge explained.

“Energy Trust was fantastic to work with,” said Paul Southerton, director of business and operations at Centennial School District. “Their long-standing support through the SEM program helped us define and prioritize energy efficiency projects, ensuring we could do more for our students, community and facilities.”

Discover how your school can achieve significant energy savings and enhance learning environments with the support of Energy Trust. Visit our website to view available cash incentives  or learn more about Strategic Energy Management participation. For additional questions, email  existingbuildings@energytrust.org.