Huntley Community School District 158 recently received a check for $283,466.30 from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity in support of the District’s recently completed project to install energy-efficient lighting in several of its buildings.
The check follows $117,891.00 received earlier in the year from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, bringing the total to more than $400,000 in grant funding for the project.
According to Doug Renkosik, director of operations and maintenance, the project will reap more than $123,000 in annual energy savings for the District. In addition to cost savings, he said the District is proud of its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.
According to the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalency Calculator, the 1,182,086 kilowatt-hours of electricity saved annually through the retrofit is equal to the greenhouse emissions from 1,991,002 miles driven by the average passenger car, or 886,480 pounds of coal burned in power plants.
The savings from these projects along with previously completed projects contribute to more than $500,000 in annual energy savings District-wide.
In addition, a report just released by clean energy management company Ameresco compared the energy efficiency of Illinois Large Unit District Association member high school facilities. The report found Huntley High School:
- The 7th-most energy-efficient building of the 33 measured
- 19.5% more efficient in energy consumption than the average
- Serves students with 8.5% less space per student than the average high school
- Has energy service costs 24% less than the average
- Spends 26% lower than the average for natural gas.
Last year, the District’s Administration and Transportation Center became its first building to receive an Energy Star rating from the EPA.
