Teachers' role in energy conservation

Remember the goal of our energy conservation program is not to compromise instruction or student comfort during the school day. Our goal is simply to eliminate waste. We reap most of our savings at night, on weekends, and during holidays. Teachers play a critical role by doing the following:

* Going to lunch, an IEP, or a faculty meeting?
Turn off your classroom lights (if leaving for more than 15 mnutes).

* Leaving faculty room, bathroom, conference room, or workroom? Turn off lights.

* End of day checklist:
1) Turn off sound system
2) Shutdown computer and turn off power strip (or monitor)
3) Turn off other electronics such as VCR's, printers, and scanners.
4) Close blinds, shut door
5) If you have control over your thermostat, set back to 58 degrees each night in the winter. Set up to 72 degrees each night in the summer.
(Every degree you increase the temperature in the winter, or decrease the temperature in the summer, costs about 10% more--YIKES!)

*Feet cold?
Consider keeping a pair of outrageous furry slippers under your desk rather than using a space heater. A space heater consumes roughly the same amount of energy as running ten desktop computers.

*If you come in to work on weekends or in the evenings, bring a jacket--temperatures will be set back to 58-60 degrees at night in the winter.

Remember three important words: "turn it off." Those electronics are still using energy, even when you aren't using them.