Faculty and staff at Geary County Schools USD 475 have chalked up a million dollars worth of good behavior. Their energy-efficient practices have earned big savings –and now those good habit are earning the district national recognition.

Geary County Schools USD 475 has achieved $1,070,078 in cost savings in 24 months since forming a strategic alliance with Cenergistic, a national energy conservation company, which will present its Energy Excellence Award during the Board of Education Celebrations meeting on Monday ( April 17 ) at 5 p.m. in the Junction City Middle School Auditorium.

“Reaching this savings mark is a significant milestone. Geary County Schools USD 475 has achieved success by consistently implementing the organizational behavior-based approach to energy conservation and maintaining productive efforts at all levels of the organization. The Superintendent and board, along with other administration, faculty and staff members are to be commended for clearly fulfilling their commitment to being good stewards of the taxpayers’ money and the environment,” said Dr. William S. Spears, Chairman and Founder of Cenergistic.

A key benefit of the Cenergistic program is that all costs come out of the existing utility budget, with savings projected to more than pay for the program, as they have done for Geary County Schools USD 475. Additional savings can be redirected to other parts of the budget.

As part of the program Energy Specialist William Cooley tracks energy consumption — including electricity, water, sewer, natural gas and fuel oil — using energy-accounting software. He compares current energy use to a baseline period and calculates the amount of energy that would have been used had conservation and management practices not been implemented. By tracking consumption and analyzing energy use, he can quickly identify and correct areas that need immediate attention.