Champlain Valley Union High School

LOCATION: 349 CVU Road, Hinesburg, VT 05461

STUDENTS: approximately 1,360 students in grades 9-12

PRINCIPAL: Sean McMannon

ACTION TEAM LEADER: Katie Antos-Ketcham

MORE INFO: (802) 482-7137 or visit www.cvuhs.org.

View the most recent report from Efficiency Vermont summarizing CVU's energy use.

Action Team accomplishments to date

January 2012

• Analysis of winter break HVAC system shut-down completed and will be revised

• Scheduled return visit for Norm Etkind to help address specific electricity demands related to peak
• EnACT students speak at press conference at the Statehouse

December

• Power point presentation to faculty summarizing WSEC efforts and successes to date

• Initial meeting with Cafeteria director to discuss energy conversation
• 11 EnACT members presented WSEC update (-9.56%) to faculty
• Same EnACT members held 15 minute focus groups with faculty members to generate energy saving ideas
• Hibernation Vacation - promoted pulling shades and unplugging phantom loads before winter break
• Unplugging Party - EnACT students unplugged computers in labs before vacation
• Lighting evaluation started using light meter from VEEP
• Began retrofitting auditorium lights to LED

November

• Shut down 2 fridges in faculty lounge using data from math and physics classes
• Started conversation about kiln use (24-36 hour cycle) related to peak
• Determined we could unplug computers over Thanksgiving break (new this year) with collaboration with IT and CVU’s 2nd year of “Hibernation Vacation”
• Hibernation Vacation -- promote pulling shades, unplugging phantom loads
• Nick in IT put egauge data on graph for all faculty/staff; shows dip at week #5
• Unplugging Party -- EnACT students unplugged computers in labs before vacation
• Committees continue work -- student pledge exploring buying buttons
• Facilities director shut down all lights over Thanksgiving break (new this year)

October

• Katie and 3 EnACT students attended ACE Leadership Conference
• Applied for and won $200 ACE Climate Change grant for mural and lighting project
• 10% Energy Challenge pledge cards handed out by EnACT members to faculty/staff to post on their classroom door
• Tabled in cafeteria at lunch to get students to come up with ideas and sign 10% poster
• Katie met with Facilities Manager and VEEP representative to strategize next steps
• Katie organized data from the audit by category into manageable chunks
• Katie discussed “Power Factor” with Richard Donnelly - CVU all set
• Team leaders selected to head up each committee
• Committee leaders meet with or email Katie to get started
• Committee leaders start first group meetings:

1. ○ Student pledge committee (Brian Breese, Greg Meyer, Caelin Weiss)
2. ○ Lighting (Jonathan Slimovitch)
3. ○ Information Technology (Grace Vincent)
4. ○ Audio Visual (Chloe Trifilio)
5. ○ Kiln (Laura Supple and Kathryn Maitland)
6. ○ Cafeteria (Georgia Dixon, Rachel Dunphy and Emily Polhemus)
7. ○ Mural project and lighting stickers (Lily Nguyen and Emma Hamilton)
8. ○ Tentative: Fitness Center

Italics indicate tentative leadership role -- waiting for confirmation

• Facilities director will begin experimenting with heating setback v. ventilation. By setting the heat way down at night, there is a potential to save energy, as long as the ventilation necessary to bring the temperature back up in the morning doesn’t require more energy than is saved.
• Facilities director has turned off the occupied cycle starting at 4:00pm-- instructed Access teachers to initiate system for 2-hour cycles on an “as needed” basis
• Facilities director has turned down the water temperature in the heat loop, which will save wood chips -- in touch with Messersmith to see if there is a way to do this automatically rather than manually. The plan is to try running the system at 170 this winter rather than 200.
• Access courses (community education after school hours) continues to consolidate courses by HVAC zones

September

• Students brainstormed ways to save energy at CVU at EnACT meeting
• Tabled in cafeteria at lunch to recruit new members
• EnACT Hosted Kick-off assemblies (3) for entire school with ACE presenter
• EnACT created 10% energy challenge logo
• EnACT purchased organic cotton T-shirts with logo for those involved in the kick-off assembly
• IT staff designed computer screen background with 10% logo asking people to shut down computers after use

August

• Students present Energy Challenge to faculty at August in-service
• Facility director removed nonessential plug loads (faculty refrigerators, desk lamps, water coolers, etc.) from building;
• Installed four centrally located faculty/staff fridges

Prior to August 2011

• IT set computers to automatically shut-down at 7pm
• Facilities director turned down heating by 1 degree and turned up AC by 1 degree in 2010-11 school year