Cook-Wissahickon School staff, students honored for cutting energy use

Students and staff at the Cook-Wissahickon School in Philadelphia have found a way to help fix the district's budget problems, starting with their own behavior.

The school cut its energy consumption by at least 5 percent through the initiatives of sixth and seventh graders, allowing the district to use the saving for other expenses.

They did so through simple steps - shutting down computers when not in use, reducing the brightness on screens, cutting down on copy machine use, or just turning out lights when they leave a classroom.

Their efforts earned them recognition in the state's first Energy Efficient School Awards, sponsored by the Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance, a nonprofit promoting smarter energy use; and by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The school was one of four winners statewide, along with the Upper Perkiomen School District in Montgomery County and schools in Erie and Scranton.

Cook-Wissahickon is one of three district schools chosen as pilots to reduce energy consumption districtwide, said Jose Ramos, a science teacher there.

The school has been monitoring its energy consumption on the Energy Star benchmarking website, and students and staff have watched the score climb from 47 to 71. A score of 75 would qualify the school for the distinguished Energy Star rating - meaning the building uses about 40 percent less energy than typical buildings.

"We have initiated an effort to change behaviors throughout the school and have met with success," Ramos said.

Cook-Wissahickon students have been working during the last three years with the goal of reducing energy consumption by 16 percent throughout the entire district; they reduced energy use by 5 percent in the last year alone.

Ramos said the school was on track to achieve Energy Star status in 2013 and LEED Silver in 2014; both ratings indicate significant strides toward energy conservation and sustainability.

Toward a sustainable environment, capital investments including the planting of 42 trees have improved shading and cooling throughout the school. Ramos said Cook-Wissahickon would like to do more, such as replacing lighting fixtures and regulating the heating and cooling systems.

The school is also installing a 10,000-square-foot meadow, recently seeded on the property, that will teach students about stormwater management and serve as an outdoor classroom. Students will study how the meadow affects rainwater runoff and wildlife.

Cook-Wissahickon participated in the first Green Apple Day of Service in September, a worldwide initiative to get students and communities involved in green initiatives at the local level, Ramos said. Students developed a program to introduce energy conservation at every grade level from kindergarten through eighth grade, and they will participate again in 2013.