Dysart School District Recognized For Energy Efficiency

Published: Thursday, August 13, 2015 - 5:05am
Updated: Thursday, August 13, 2015 - 11:11am
(Photo by Matthew Casey - KJZZ)
Dysart Superintendent Dr. Gail Pletnick speaks at Kingswood Elementary School in Surprise. A representative from the U.S. Department of Energy joined Pletnick in touring the school's chillers and solar system.

Solar panels and chillers designed to reduce cooling costs have helped make the Dysart Unified School District a leader in a federal program that aims to increase energy savings by 20 percent in a decade.

The West Valley district’s success prompted a visit Wednesday from a representative with the U.S. Department of Energy.

Maria Vargas, director of the DOE’s Better Buildings Challenge, toured Kingswood Elementary School in Surprise where roughly 600 students have access to 400 Chromebooks and teachers encourage them to bring their own devices to class.

Juicing all those gadgets could easily cause energy bills to rise, but Dysart Superintendent Dr. Gail Pletnick said the new solar equipment helps prevent that.

“This is one of those things that we’re able to do to keep our costs down or actually reduce the costs while putting more of that resource, that electricity, back into our classrooms,” Pletnick said.

Kingswood has already reached 16 percent in energy savings, which is about $44,000 annually. 

Science