After three intense weeks, the competition is over and the results are in.  Langley Elementary school is our winner with a 30 percent reduction in electricity consumption.  That’s a massive reduction!

Powell Elementary School finished in 2nd place (18 percent reduction) and Anne Beers Elementary locked up the 3rd place position (12.5 percent reduction).   Anacostia was the top performing high school and the only high school to surpass the elusive 10 percent reduction threshold.

Overall, 24 of the 28 participating schools succeeded in reducing their electricity consumption.  Their efforts saved over 76,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity—enough to power seven American households for nearly an entire year.

Leaderboard & 'Baseline' Details

We’ve worked hard to ensure each school's baseline for the Sprint to Savings are as fair and accurate as possible -- normalizing for weather, occupied vs unoccupied, etc. Click here to learn more about how each school's baseline was created. 

Overview

The Sprint to Savings makes energy conservation fun. Yes, fun!  Plus, it reduces electricity costs and engages students in real-world learning activities.  

The premise is simple: Schools compete against one another to reduce electricity consumption over a three-week period (compared to each school's baseline). Schools will have their own online building dashboards (coming Wednesday Feb 12!) that will show daily electricity consumption in 15-minute intervals, energy costs, and a real time District-wide leaderboard.  All DCPS schools were eligible to participate.
 
If pride, costs savings, environmental benefits and educational opportunities aren’t enough, we added a few other incentives.  Schools that do well will win real rewards from t-shirts to solar energy systems to money schools.  How low can your school go?

How It Works

[Note: Registration is now closed.]

Step 1: Green Teams gather information and get going.  With a team leader identified, it’s time to form the “Green Team,” if one doesn’t exist already.   The team will be responsible for identifying and implementing energy saving efforts, coming up with posters and slogans to encourage their fellow students to join the campaign and supporting other creative energy saving strategies.  Click here for some tips on creating a successful green team and having a successful strategy. 

Step 2: Save. Save. Save. Up to 30 percent of energy used in schools is wasted.  Turn the lights off at night.  Dial the heating back when the building is empty.  Shut down computers and monitors when not in use.  It’s up to you to make a difference!   

The Innovation Challenge empowers DCPS students to make decisions that have real and lasting impacts on their schools.  Specifically, the program challenges students to decide what energy efficiency projects would benefit their school the most, develop the projects and submit them for funding. The students will be involved throughout the whole process, from the initial research to the final presentation and implementation.   

It's anticipated there will be three divisions for the challenge: Elementary School (grades 3-5/6), Middle School, High School. The final selection, at the US Green Building Council's Green Schools Summit, will take place on April 26th!

How it works:

Step 1: Register.  If your school is interested in participating, you can register by clicking here. More details will be released soon to participating schools. Registration closes February 14.
 
Step 2: Assemble team. Schools should identify a staff/faculty member to lead the program and team of students. Team size might vary from a few students to a collaboration of different classes (only one project per school may be submitted to the District-wide contest). While the faculty advisor and team of students may be the same as those involved in the Sprint to Savings, new staff and student teams are encouraged to participate as well.  

Step 3:  Gather information and identify priorities.  The Innovation Challenge teams should conduct energy audits and interview building occupants/engineers to understand building operations and energy usage. Volunteer experts from the National Capital Chapter of the US Green Building Council (USGBC), DGS, and/or DDOE will be available to support the audit process and project development.
 
Step 4: Teams make recommendations for improvements. Working with support from experts, parents, and organizations within the community, students will develop projects for DGS-funded capital investments. Teams are requested to submit a written proposal.  Selected teams will be asked to present at a STEM Fair-style event to an independent selection committee -- and finalists will present at the US Green Building Council's Green Schools Summit!  

Step 5: Implementation. Selected projects will be implemented in a timely fashion, with DGS providing funding and management for the projects.  

Project Eligibility:

The projects must meet DGS capital eligibility criteria.  In general, to be capital eligible the project must result in a new District owned asset, increase the value of an existing District owned asset, or increase the life of a District owned asset by at least 2 years.  Specific examples might include, among others: energy efficient boilers, high performance heating and cooling equipment, entire lighting systems and solar thermal systems. A particular project must make economic sense for each site and previous and future construction and modernization plans must be taken into account.

Please see the General Restrictions for Capital Financing Eligibility for more information on project eligibility.  For questions, please contact [email protected].