On July 29, at the New Providence High School, a grass-roots energy efficiency initiative by private citizens will begin. The initiative will help schools and libraries become energy efficient. The plan is to create a template for efficiency at schools and libraries within Union County, and then use that template across the State.
Several months ago, when Peter Ricks, the parent of two New Providence High school students, received invitations to public hearings on the budget, he immediately thought of something that could be done and reached out to High School Principal Paul Casarico. They began to collaborate on opportunities to save money through energy efficiencies. 9 As partners in a newly formed energy efficiency service company Shift Into Green Energytm of Plainfield NJ, Peter, along with his partner Caroline Jerski, realizes that energy efficiency can be a "Profit Model". That is, by becoming more efficient (which in some cases require little or no cost), schools and libraries can help themselves save money, save the environment, and educate towns and children about energy efficiency.
Typically, Shift Into Green Energy tm works with commercial and industrial businesses, assisting them in understanding how to become efficient and implementing solutions to that end. Being in the energy business, they have access to information and people that can help schools and towns understand about efficiency. They decided to organize a seminar to bring "those who need" (schools/libraries/towns) together with "those who know" (experts in the energy efficiency field) so that they can better understand what it means to be energy efficient, and how to take advantage of what’s available.
"In starting our company, we learned things that the average consumer may not be aware of. There are rebates, discounts, free programs, and a wealth of information that are available to the public. But, there are several challenges. First, there is indeed a lot of readily available information, and that in itself is a challenge. Without some fundamental understanding of energy management, and a bit of direction, it is difficult to even know where to begin. It can be overwhelming. Secondly, to effectively manage energy requires a process and a team", says Peter.
So, Peter and Caroline decided to help educate the community on the fundamentals of energy efficiency, to present people who can speak about programs that can be implemented at schools and libraries, and to explain about retrofitting and renewable energy implementation as well. There is a non-profit organization called Global Learning, Inc. that recruits school districts to participate in the "the Green Schools Program" created by Alliance To Save Energy and funded from energy dollars sanctioned by the Board of Public Utilities’ T.E.A.C.H.(Teaching Energy Awareness with Children’s Help) initiative. Under the auspices of T.E.A.C.H. managed by T.R.C., Global Learning trains a team and develops an approach to managing energy efficiency at schools. We engaged its Director, Jeff Brown to present, met with the Union County Superintendent Dr. Carmen Centuolo, and with her assistance urged Superintendents in Union County to send representation to the seminar. Director Pat Tumulty of the New Jersey Library Association has also been engaged to round up all public libraries to support the event.
"Typically, there is a progressive nature to energy management, that is, start with no-cost, low-cost operational changes facilitated by basic behavioral changes within the staff/personnel, retrofitting changes, and then implementing renewable energy solutions. Once your changes are in place, you diligently monitor the environment, to make certain the changes (and their resultant savings) you’ve put into place are stable over time. If you suddenly begin to lose efficiency, monitoring will show this right away, and you can address it before losing significant dollars. So, there is a way to save, and to keep saving, and we want them to understand how this works.
On the controversial subject of urgency relating to global issues and our country’s efforts to be recognized as the leader in energy conservation, Peter expounds on the importance of acting NOW and states with conviction, "We want to propose what we call the "Big Bang" approach. We want to educate them on all the possible solutions, and attempt to implement them simultaneously. We feel that, given the desperate nature of the economy and energy conservation to preserve our planet, it would make more sense to see if it’s possible to implement multiple measures at once; to save as much as possible, as soon as possible. Also, with the recent success that Morris County has had with implementing solar at their schools and municipal buildings, we thought it a good idea to have some of the key people who were involved in that groundbreaking project to speak about how they made it happen. If it can happen for Morris county, why not Union County as well.
"New Providence takes education very seriously, and has an exceptional school system. My two children have benefited greatly, and we appreciate so very much what they have been given. So, when this idea came to me I did not hesitate to follow it through, and to offer New Providence the opportunity to be the pilot school district. This is our chance to give back to the schools and the community that so readily welcomed us there several years ago", Peter concludes with candor and passion.
Both Peter’s children, Madison (a junior) and Montana (a recent graduate) will be assisting us during the seminar to help it run smoothly. The Superintendent of the District, Dr. David Miceli has graciously accepted the offer to host the seminar, and more significantly, look forward to participating in the Green Schools Program pending presentation to the School Board and their approval.