Energy Manager Tommy Ferguson analyzed the 2009 (July - December) utility bills and compared them to the previous year in order to determine that Walker County Schools had avoided over $80,000 in utility cost. Multiple factors played a role in the savings, one was staff and students turning off lights when rooms are unoccupied, keeping doors closed while HVAC is on and reporting maintenance problems such as water leaks.

One key role in these savings is the automated digital control systems that are in 13 of our 15 schools. These automated controls make sure that the buildings are properly shut down when unoccupied and are properly .started up in a certain way that saves thousands of dollars in energy cost. The controls are used on heating and air, lights, water heaters, boilers and also help off set the demand peak on all utility charges .

The chart below compres the utility cost of 2008 (RED) and 2009 (BLUE)