2023-2024 Recognition Program Honorees
As part of the 2024 Recognition Program, The U.S. Department of Energy’s Efficient and Healthy Schools Program, with technical support from Berkeley Lab and New Buildings Institute, honored 13 K-12 districts receiving 15 total awards. These districts serve over 500,000 students across 12 states.
Recognition Objectives
The program is excited to celebrate districts for planning efforts and outstanding implementation of solutions in the categories below. Through setting ambitious goals and applying best practices, these districts have achieved substantial energy savings and greatly improved the learning environment by improving their facilities’ indoor air quality, HVAC, and building controls. By celebrating their success, the program aims to amplify the importance of energy-efficient, healthy, and resilient schools, and inspire other schools to take action.
Congratulations to the 13 Honorees receiving Efficient and Healthy Schools Recognition
Emerging and exemplary districts were recognized in four categories:
Best In Class: Data Detective
This category honors schools and districts who demonstrate best practices to assess, benchmark, and utilize building data to prioritize school improvements. Recipients of Best-in-Class recognition for implementing projects in the Data Detective category are listed below. These projects are well-planned, collect robust data that documents improvements in energy efficiency and learning, engaged students in learning opportunities, and are replicable.
Porterville Unified School District, CA
Schools: 22, students: 14,000. Porterville Unified School District partnered with Climate Action Pathways for Schools (CAPS) to develop an Energy & Sustainability Program in 2019. The Program trained high school students as interns, who collected data from 21 school sites, including utility bills and solar production, and conducted site visits to record HVAC system data. The data formed the baseline EUI, and is pivotal to a $5.2M grant that the district received to implement energy savings measures. Porterville Unified School District provides public education for the Tule River Indian Tribe. The funded project will help improve the school environment for all students.
Seattle Public Schools, WA
Schools: 109, students: 51,000. Seattle Public Schools used ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to evaluate their readiness to meet their state’s Clean Building Performance Standard’s target EUI. Facility staff carefully considered occupancy schedule, construction year, and complexity from multi-use building types, in comparison with the target EUI for each of their 100+ campuses. The assessment underlined the need for more rapid electrification and infrastructure investment planning, enabling Seattle Public Schools to lay out a pathway to be fossil-fuel free by 2040 in alignment with Seattle’s school board resolution.
Notable Achievement: Data Detective
This category honors schools and districts who demonstrate best practices to assess, benchmark, and utilize building data to prioritize school improvements. These honored school districts demonstrated success in setting a broad work scope, clearly stating performance criteria, and describing improvements in energy efficiency and the learning environment.
Boise School District, ID
Schools: 51, students: 23,000. Boise School District conducted a comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions inventory for their 51 schools, covering scope 1, 2 and a select set of scope 3 emissions. This building-to-building and district-wide assessment provides a baseline for the district to plan for future sustainability investments and has helped the district evaluate the emissions impact of its design specifications. The district also utilized data visualizations and tools, such as hourly electricity heat maps and performance tracking models, to support their ongoing energy and emissions management efforts.
IDEA Public Schools, TX
Schools: 143, students: 80,000. IDEA Public Schools used ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to benchmark three schools and the headquarters building. A number of improvements were made as a result of building assessments, including adjustments to building operations that reduce energy use and improve indoor air quality. IDEA Public Schools identified and repaired faulty equipment at the headquarters building to improve solar production. All four sites obtained ENERGY STAR Building Certification, and the district intends to pursue Certification of 25 additional sites, to build on the positive outcomes of this work.
Best In Class: Retrofit Revolutionary
This category honors schools and districts that showcase exemplary retrofit projects to improve energy efficiency, resilience, and promote a healthy learning environment. Recipients of Best-in-Class recognition for implementing projects in the Retrofit Revolutionary category are listed below. These projects are well-planned, collect robust data that documents improvements in energy efficiency and learning, engaged students in learning opportunities, and are replicable.
Broward County Public Schools, FL
Schools: 329, students: 255,000. Broward County Public Schools, the 6th largest school district in the nation, successfully leveraged bond, ESPC, and federal funding (ESSER), to initiate multi-system energy retrofits that will reach over 230 schools and more than 1,000 structures. A district-wide facility needs assessment was conducted to obtain staff buy-in and prioritize areas for improvements. The initiative, named the SMART Program, implemented energy-savings measures at scale to improve the school environment. For example, 25 schools received HVAC optimization that dynamically adjusts the supply water temperature based on outside air temperature and occupancy. This measure alone provides an estimated energy savings of 15% to 35% for each system. Positive feedback from principals, staff, and students underscores the tangible benefits of the improvements on the learning environment.
Livonia Public Schools, MI
Schools: 26, students: 13,000. For more than a decade, Livonia Public Schools (LPS) has actively monitored and managed their buildings through a building automation system. The district utilized this data and right-sizing of equipment to complete boiler upgrades with funding from the district’s revolving maintenance fund, without requesting any new bonds from the community. These efforts not only resulted in substantial energy savings, the funds that were saved from HVAC redesign were reallocated to upgrades of educational equipment. The project’s success is now being considered by other Michigan school administrators for improvements to their districts.
Loudoun County Public Schools, VA
Schools: 98, students: 82,000. Aldie Elementary school had an EUI of 137 before Loudoun County Public Schools undertook a massive retrofit project, slashing the EUI by 70% through a suite of measures, including installation of the first ground-source heat pump system in the district. Despite fully electrifying the building and adding outside air load, this project lowered the power grid’s electric demand by 10%, reducing strain on the power generating and distribution systems during peak periods. The district has since approved additional installation of ground-source heat pump systems in their schools.
River Trails School District 26, IL
Schools: 4, students: 1,500. River Trails School District 26 undertook a deep energy retrofit of a 1960s building to become Prairie Trails School (PTS). Opened in fall 2021, PTS is the nation’s first net-zero energy school that also meets the 2018 PHIUS+ Source Zero project standard. Thoughtful application of efficiency measures and system improvements resulted in an all-electric school with an operational EUI of 24. Data verified that the school actually produces more electricity than it uses via onsite solar PV, making it “net positive”. The school acts as a learning tool for students across the district, with interactive educational displays, and the project’s success has paved the way for continued sustainability projects across the district.
Notable Achievement: Retrofit Revolutionary
This category honors schools and districts that showcase exemplary retrofit projects to improve energy efficiency, resilience, and promote a healthy learning environment. These honored school districts demonstrated success in setting a broad work scope, clearly stating performance criteria, and describing improvements in energy efficiency and the learning environment.
School District of Neillsville, WI
Schools: 3, students: 900. The School District of Neillsville undertook a massive capital improvement campaign across all schools, to address staff and student complaints about poor indoor air quality. Leveraging information from stakeholder engagement activities, a $12.5M referendum was passed by the community to support the district’s work in April 2023. The district has already completed the addition of energy monitoring to enable operational improvements. Over the next 2 years, the district plans to utilize ongoing commissioning, testing, monitoring, and energy usage evaluation to measure energy savings, emission reductions, and indoor air quality improvements.
Notable Achievement: Performance Pro
This category honors schools and districts who strive for continuous improvement through operations and maintenance (O&M) activities, performance evaluation, and retro commissioning (RCx). These honored school districts demonstrated success in setting a broad work scope, clearly stating performance criteria, and describing improvements in energy efficiency and the learning environment.
Seattle Public Schools, WA
Schools: 109, students: 51,000. Seattle Public Schools’ recommissioning team demonstrated success in driving down reactionary maintenance. The team’s building tune-up efforts were effective at lowering annual EUI by an average of 2.2 KBTU/ft2/yr. The team was instrumental in the district’s rapid COVID response to adjusting HVAC operations due to their hands-on knowledge about system performance in the district’s buildings. Work by the recommissioning team contributes to securing grant funding for further energy improvements, and is an integral part of the district’s Clean Energy Resolution passed in 2022.
Best In Class: Solutions Strategist
This category honors schools and districts who develop plans and make committed goals to advance district initiatives that achieve sustained and long-term improvements of their school buildings. Recipients of Best-in-Class recognition for implementing projects in the Solutions Strategist category are listed below. These projects are well-planned, collect robust data that documents improvements in energy efficiency and learning, engaged students in learning opportunities, and are replicable.
Canajoharie Central School District, NY
Schools: 3, students: 900. Canajoharie Central School District, recognizing the importance of providing a healthy environment and serving the community as a disaster relief shelter, developed a comprehensive initiative to address energy, school environment, funding, education, and transportation. The district supported the hiring of an Energy Manager to lead a cross-functional District Energy Team, with the overarching goal of completing an Energy Master Plan. This team contributed to the identification and implementation of 12 low/no-cost measures that has allowed the district to stay within budget while absorbing a 7% utility cost increase. The district added an Energy Curriculum tailored to all student learning levels, and provides regular community updates regarding upcoming large-scale projects such as solar panels and electric school buses.
Notable Achievement: Solutions Strategist
This category honors schools and districts who develop plans and make committed goals to advance district initiatives that achieve sustained and long-term improvements of their school buildings. These honored school districts demonstrated success in setting a broad work scope, clearly stating performance criteria, and describing improvements in energy efficiency and the learning environment.
Boise School District, ID
Schools: 51, students: 23,000. Boise School District is embracing a comprehensive sustainability initiative supported by their Clean Energy Board Resolution. One of the key components is the creation of student and staff Green Teams at every site, including district offices, facilities and operations, and special programs. Green Team Leads work closely with district staff through a central communication channel to implement activities such as “Powerdown Challenges”, which have saved the district over 730,000 kWh in the 2023-2024 school year alone. The Green Teams were made possible through buy-in from all parts of the district, and contribute to a broader culture shift toward environmental awareness and student empowerment. The Green Teams create a pipeline of lasting impact as students move through the school system while championing for sustainability.
Hamilton Southeastern Schools, IN
Schools: 22, students: 22,000. Hamilton Southeastern Schools (HSE) partnered with Ameresco through an ESPC to power three schools with solar energy as part of a larger goal to reduce their environmental impact. The district used this project as an opportunity to integrate solar into their K-12 curriculum, including hands-on learning via two solar wagons that have visited every school in the district. As a result of HSE’s success, a nearby district has utilized lessons learned to install solar on their own facilities, and HSE has partnered with a national nonprofit to host events related to solar education and policy. In 2023, Fishers High School and Hamilton Southeastern High School were named High Schools of the Year for the State of Indiana by the National Energy Education Development project for their projects on renewable energy.
Lansing Public School District, MI
Schools: 28, students: 10,000. Lansing Public School District worked with district and community stakeholders and larger initiatives like Michigan Clean Cities to develop their comprehensive sustainability plan. As a result of this work, the district design specifications have been updated to require renewable energy sources and energy efficiency measures. One key measure includes 10 solar installations, which is expected to save nearly half a million dollars in the first full year of operation alone. Student involvement has been an integral part of the work, and will continue through an intern program and the launch of an energy careers pathway program.
Portland Public Schools, OR
Schools: 86, students: 45,000. In March 2023, Portland Public Schools initiated a pioneering approach to achieve their goal of net zero emissions by 2040. The district prioritized a variety of unique stakeholder engagement approaches, such as in-person and virtual events, surveys, and classroom visits, and worked to engage school communities at the neighborhood-scale by creating school clusters to include in each session. By engaging participants through dot-polling, flyers that summarize every school’s energy and emissions, and comparative graphics, the district has gathered invaluable insights into stakeholder opinions that will guide the development of the decarbonization roadmap moving forward.