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PARKERSBURG -- Three Wood County schools have earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star certification for superior energy performance, officials announced this week.
Parkersburg and Parkersburg South high schools and Jackson Middle School have received the Energy Star designation for 2021, outperforming similar U.S. buildings on measures of energy efficiency, Energy Star representatives said.
"Wood County Schools is proud of the improvements made in our facilities and thrilled to have three of our schools nationally recognized for energy efficiency," Wood County Schools Superintendent Will Hosaflook said. "Wood County Schools teamed with CMTA Energy Solutions beginning in 2020 to evaluate and improve energy performance in all of our schools. By March 2021, the energy plan had already resulted in more than half a million dollars in savings for Wood County Schools. The Energy Star designations announced this week show those improvements are continuing and have a direct impact on our energy usage and cost."
With the assistance of CMTA in the energy plan implementation process, Parkersburg High School earned an Energy Star rating of 81 for 2021, South a rating of 78 and Jackson Middle a rating of 82. Those scores indicate each building is more energy efficient than that percentage of similar properties nationwide.
"Improving the energy efficiency of our nation's buildings is critical to protecting our environment. From the boiler room to the board room, organizations are leading the way by making their buildings more efficient and earning EPA's ENERGY STAR certification," said Jean Lupinacci, chief of Energy Star's Commercial and Industrial Branch.
Energy Star-certified buildings and plants are verified to perform in the top 25% of buildings nationwide, based on weather-normalized source energy use that takes into account occupancy, hours of operation and other key metrics.
On average, Energy Star-certified buildings and plants use 35% less energy, cause 35% fewer greenhouse gas emissions and are less expensive to operate than their peers.
The schools are among tens of thousands of buildings and plants across all 50 states that have earned the Energy Star.
More information about Energy Star for buildings and plants is available online at www.energystar.gov/buildings