New energy control system reduces utility costs at Charlotte Elementary School

Even though a new energy control system at Charlotte Elementary School hasn’t been fully operational for a month yet, the company installing the system estimates it has saved the school about $2,000 in utility costs so far. David Baggett of United Mechanical and Electrical told the school board Thursday night that the company only has 22-23 days of data from the new system that controls the HVAC, exhaust and lights at Charlotte Elementary. “We don’t have a full-month reading yet,” Baggett said, but the system has reduced energy costs by around $2,000 in that period. Charlotte Elementary was chosen to be a pilot program for the new energy control system with UME being paid with the savings realized against the school’s previous average utility costs. CES administrators and school system maintenance personnel are being trained on the operation of the new system. Baggett said he plans to return to next month’s board meeting with a more extensive report on cost reductions at the school.