Piscataway Township Schools Cuts Energy Use 30% in One Year

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — After wrapping up the first year of an energy conservation partnership with Cenergistic, a nationwide sustainability company, the Piscataway Township Schools announce a 30-percent drop in energy consumption.
To find opportunities for savings, District personnel work closely with Cenergistic experts and the Energy Specialist to audit and optimize energy-using systems across the organization to achieve peak efficiency. The Energy Specialist tracks energy consumption at all campuses with leading state-of-the-art technology to identify waste and drive conservation. During the COVID-19 shutdown, the Energy Specialist continues to audit district facilities for energy inefficiencies both onsite and through online technology.
“Already, this partnership has achieved significant savings and made an impact on our school community.  The Energy Specialist has imbedded herself in our District, and she actively monitors our building energy usage and utility bills to identify savings opportunities.” said David Oliveira, Business Administrator. “Having an extra set of eyes on our facilities, especially while schools were shut down, has been invaluable to our district.”

Alisia Quaccoo (second from left), the Energy Specialist for PTS, distributes meals to families while schools are closed due to COVID.

Alisia and Tulia, a member of the facilities staff, clean and monitor schools during the shutdown.
The success of the hand-in-hand partnership has significantly reduced the District’s carbon footprint in the initial stages of the partnership. Energy reductions from the program equate to avoiding carbon emissions produced by the average car driving approximately 6.5 million miles or the energy use of 450 houses in a year.
“The Energy Specialist has provided recommendations to improve our energy efficiency,” said Dr. C. Alex Gray, Principal of Martin Luther King Intermediate School. “I will work to ensure we are implementing the necessary changes to continue to conserve as much energy as possible throughout the school.”
Before the shutdown, the energy program had expanded beyond district mechanical rooms and into the classrooms and community.
Alisia Quaccoo, the Cenergistic Energy Specialist embedded with PSD, serves as a committee member on the Piscataway Municipal Alliance for Substance Abuse, a task force that organizes activities to reduce alcoholism and drug abuse in community and schools, particularly helping students in the school district overcome substance abuse through various programs, including theatrical performances. She has also volunteered to distribute meals to PSD students since schools shut down in March.

Dana, a member of the PTS operations team, and Alisia maintain schools during the shutdown.

Alisia joins Stephen and Leighton, two facilities team members cleaning Eisenhower Elementary.

At Conackamack Middle School, Garfield, another member of the cleaning crew, and Alisia rearrange tables for optimal cleaning.
“These results could not have been possible without the assistance of each custodian and principal within the school district,” said Quaccoo. “We’re working to build this program into something that becomes important to not just the Piscataway Township Schools budget, but the students and community as well.”
Read the full writeup here.
About Piscataway School District
The Piscataway School District serves over 7,000 students in pre-school through 12th grade. In addition to our high school, there are four elementary schools that educate students in kindergarten through third grade, two intermediate schools serving grades four to five, and three middle schools for students in grades six, seven, and eight. The district also operates a grant-funded preschool for over 200 financially eligible children and a tuition-based preschool program.
About Cenergistic
Since 1986 Cenergistic has partnered with 1450+ educational, municipal government and healthcare organizations to achieve $5.8 billion in utility savings and cost avoidance. These strong results come from the application of Cenergistic’s organizational behavior-based strategies and are enhanced by our proprietary software platform to drive building and equipment optimization. Our energy conservation program reduces utility consumption by an average of 25% with no capital investment while maintaining or improving the comfort and quality of building environments. For more than a decade, Cenergistic has been recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency as ENERGY STAR^® Partner of the Year or Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence. To learn more, visit www.cener2staging.wpengine.com.