The Osceola School District has recognized the need to take a new approach toward saving energy and lessening the carbon footprint of it’s over 8 million square feet of school buildings and ancillary facilities.

Toward the end of March, the district adopted a new Energy Savings Plan that established a 76⁰ degree fixed set point compared to the 75⁰ degree and variable set point it once had.

This enabled the district to realize a utility savings of $264,125 for utility bills processed in the 4th quarter fiscal year of 2018-19 compared to 4th quarter 2017-18. These savings account for an over 9% cost reduction in electricity throughout the school district.

Because of these efforts, the district also reduced its carbon footprint substantially in the fourth (4th) quarter of the fiscal year 2018-19. The sum of the greenhouse gas emissions as measured by kWh reduction is equivalent to 449 passenger vehicles driven for one year or 5,167,749 miles driven by an average passenger vehicle. The CO2 emissions reduction is equivalent to 237,832 gallons of gasoline consumed or 207,624 gallons of diesel consumed.