Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) has received its second ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence award from the US Environmental Protection Agency.  This award is given to a select group of organizations that have exhibited outstanding leadership year after year. These winners have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by setting and achieving aggressive goals and employing innovative energy efficiency approaches. The award recognizes ongoing leadership across the ENERGY STAR program, including energy-efficient products, services, new homes and buildings in the commercial, industrial and public sectors. Award winners are selected from the nearly 20,000 organizations that participate in the ENERGY STAR program.

In the 20 year history of the ENERGY STAR program, and out of the nearly 20,000 ENERGY STAR partnerships, only 70 organizations have ever earned the Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence Award.  In the category of Public School Districts, LCPS is one of only three districts to have won this award.  The other two districts are:  Evergreen Public Schools located in Vancouver, Washington and Gresham-Barlow School District located in Gresham, Oregon. 

• Benchmarking district facilities in Portfolio Manager, EPA’s ENERGY STAR measurement and tracking tool, and earning a 2012 ENERGY STAR certification for 42 district facilities.

   
• Achieving recognition as an ENERGY STAR Top Performer.

• Earning Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR designation for six schools: Lunsford Middle School, Douglas Elementary School, Champe High School, Discovery Elementary School, Moorefield Station Elementary School, and Trailside Middle School.

• Encouraging regional use of the Master Account Sharing feature in Portfolio Manager through speaking events and presentations promoting the tool. LCPS’s efforts have been influential in regional decisions to use this feature.

   
• Saving more than $47 million and preventing the emissions of more than 265,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide over the past 19 years.

 

Loudoun County Public Schools received the ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award, the highest honor presented by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Department of Energy, on Thursday, March 15th, in Washington, D.C.

The awards ceremony, held at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, marked the 20th anniversary of the ENERGY STAR program.

“Two decades ago, the EPA had a bold vision,” EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson told those being honored. “We wanted to harness the energy of our economy and the forces of the market to encourage energy efficiency and prevent pollution. We saw an opportunity to harness market forces that would encourage consumers and companies to invest in cleaner, more innovative, more energy-efficient products.”

Jackson said ENERGY STAR is one of the most successful market-based programs the federal government has ever undertaken. More than 80 percent of Americans recognize the blue ENERGY STAR logo, which makes it one of the most recognizable brands in the country.

“The other 20 percent we’re working on.”

The logo can be found on products in more than 60 different categories, Jackson noted. More than a million homes have the ENERGY STAR label.

 “The continued success of this program shows that we can protect our environment and strengthen our economy at the same time.”

Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) was in good company in receiving the Sustained Excellence Award. Others receiving this recognition included Merck & Co., Inc.; Nissan North America, Inc.; Raytheon Company; Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing; J.C. Penney Company, Inc.; Food Lion; Kohl’s Department Store, Inc.; Lowe’s Companies, Inc.; and G.E. Appliances & Lighting.

Only two other school districts – Evergreen Public Schools in Vancouver, Wash., and Gresham-Barlow School District in Gresham, Ore. – received the Sustained Excellence Award.

LCPS had been named an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year in 2010 and 2011.
LCPS undertook a comprehensive energy management program in 1993. Since that time the school district has:

• Documented savings of more than $43.9 million in energy costs and has prevented the emission of more than 780,000 metric tons of CO2.

   
• Earned the 2009 ENERGY STAR Leader recognition for leadership in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and having a 10 percent overall improvement in energy performance across all of its buildings.

   
• Won first place in the 2011 Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA) Green Schools Challenge for school districts with a student population of 10,000 and up.

   
• LCPS has earned 106 ENERGY STAR labels at 42 different buildings. The ENERGY STAR is the mark of superior energy performance. It identifies a building as one the top 25 percent most efficient buildings of its kind in the nation. More than 45 percent of LCPS buildings have received an ENERGY STAR label.

   
• Implemented a recycling program at all sites it owns or operates. The recycling program includes cardboard, white paper, colored paper, paper board, newspaper, aluminum and bi-metal cans and plastic bottles. Throughout the course of this program, more than 1,800 tons of materials have been recycled. 

   
• Earned the 2010 Construction Owners Association of America Silver Project Leadership Award for Tuscarora High School.

   
• Earned the Energy Education Lighthouse Award, which recognizes a successfully sustained Transformational Energy Management program over a number of years.

 

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