Des Moines School District Receives National Honor For Energy Efficiency

DES MOINES, IA — Someone is remembering to turn off the lights and set the thermostat correctly in Des Moines schools: The district has been named one of eight recipients of an energy efficiency award by a facilities management publication.

The school district's latest award "recognizes the role maintenance and engineering departments play in the successful cost-effective and energy-efficient operation of the nation’s institutional and commercial facilities," a story on the district's website said.

Facility Maintenance Decisions magazine, a trade publication for operations managers of institutional and commercial facilities, gave its 2017 Achievement Award to some well-known facilities, including the Smithsonian Institution, Oral Roberts University and the Denver International Airport.

Des Moines' school district was honored for its work in renovating and retrofitting buildings that average 65 years old and serve as cornerstones of Des Moines’ neighborhoods, the district's story said. Awards will be given at the National Facilities Management & Technology Conference/Exposition in Orlando, Fla., next month.

The awards began in 2010 and they are made to "recognize the important contributions maintenance and engineering departments make to their organizations," the magazine said. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Des Moines Patch, or click here to find your local Iowa Patch. Also, find us on Facebook and, if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Des Moines schools operate 72 buildings — more than 6 million square feet of space — and the distrct's energy efficiency efforts have come with huge cost savings over the past decade. The district noted several areas of improvement from fiscal year 2008 to fiscal year 2016, including:

• A 33 percent drop in annual energy costs, from $5,990,555 to $3,986,514
• A 40 percent drop in energy usage after increasing air conditioning from 74 percent to 99.8 percent of district classrooms (decreasing from 460.3 million to 279.3 million kBtus used
• And making 79 percent of district buildings Energy Star certified

In addition, MidAmerican Energy has recognized the district three times for Excellence in Energy Efficient Design. The district story also noted that the Des Moines schools have been named an Energy Star Partner of the Year for six years by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has twice received the Governors Environmental Excellence award for energy efficiency and renewable energy, and in 2013 received that honor for outstanding environmental leadership and innovation.

Image from Des Moines schools website