 At the January 23, 2007 school board meeting, MISD was presented a $7230 check as an incentive from TXU Electric Delivery.
In early 2006, MISD paired up with the Schools Conserving Resources [SCORE] Program to improve the lighting in gymnasiums across the district. Since then, the district has improved the lighting at twelve of its elementary schools. The former lights used in the gyms were metal halide lights, which when turned on, required a wait for full lighting.
“Our coaches and students are extremely pleased with the new lighting. We drastically increased the amount of light in those gyms, and the coaches can turn them off when they're not in use because they no longer have to wait for the lights to warm up and cool down,” said Maintenance Director Jeff Brogden.
MISD is one of the first school districts in Texas to upgrade their lighting system to T-5 high output fluorescent light fixtures. “We calculated that by upgrading the lighting in these gymnasiums, the energy cost savings alone would pay for the project in less than one year. And in addition to that, we recognized that our students and coaches would have the added benefit of much better light quality in those gyms,” said Director of Facilities and Operations John Perdue.
The i ncentives are paid by TXU Electric Delivery at the rate of $150 per peak kilowatt of energy demand saved. The Public Utility Commission of Texas provides the mechanism for calculating energy savings achieved. Therefore, the district is awarded an incentive check when projects are finished and the new equipment is inspected.
In addition to the SCOREs partnership, MISD achieved a cost avoidance in the calendar year 2005 of $600,000 in energy. Perdue and his team conducted a year-long test to improve the District's schools and facilities energy use. The test resulted in the identification of potential savings of over six million-kilowatt hours of electricity without any capital costs to the district. The result of saving district energy allotted for 14 schools in MISD to become ENERGY STAR approved buildings.
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