For over ten years, St. Cloud Area Schools have been focused on energy efficiency and savings as a partner in Class5 Energy’s Schools for Energy Efficiency (SEE) program. These efforts have resulted in $3 million cost avoidance for the district and recently were recognized with a 2014 SEE Energy Milestone Award.
El Haus, retired supervisor of building and grounds for District 742 and currently a SEE Energy Efficiency Coordinator (EEC,) also received an award for exemplary leadership. During his employment in the St. Cloud Area School District, Haus dedicated his efforts to making SEE a focus of every department in every school. He pioneered strategies to make the school district more energy efficient, led education efforts and supervised construction of the LEED® certified Kennedy Community School in 2006. Haus still provides leadership to District 742, but also mentors other districts in energy efficiency efforts.
Haus explains that a SEE program begins with behavior modification: reminding administration and staff about turning off lights, for example. Next comes changing out systems and working with engineers to create a more efficient environment with automatic thermostats, for example.
“We’ve saved $95,000 at Tech High School alone this year,” said Haus, “just by changing the lighting outside to LED’s.”
In the past few years, Haus headed up a new recycling program in buildings and food service at Lincoln and Kennedy schools. The end result is far less trash and fewer dumpsters. Not to mention less waste!
Planning ahead, the district looks to expand to five other schools to increase the recycling savings.
A large part of Haus’ role as an EEC is training, and it is a part of the job that he greatly enjoys. Educating principals, administration, business management and even the school board is all part of the plan.
Simple reminders that energy use in a school is not fixed, but controllable, and that energy affects the environment often serve as an impetus for real change and impact.
Haus will receive a certificate and travelling plaque from Class5 Energy to honor his leadership, and the SEE Milestone Award will be presented to the Board of Education at a future meeting.