Five Charlottesville City Schools receive Energy Star rating

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — Charlottesville City Schools officials announced Wednesday that five of their elementary schools are now Energy Star-rated, according to WCAV-TV.
According to the story, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awards the Energy Star designation to schools that rate in the top 25 percent of facilities nationwide in terms of energy efficiency.
The five newly Energy Star-rated schools are: Johnson Elementary; Clark Elementary; Venable Elementary; Burnley-Moran Elementary; and Jackson-Via Elementary, the story stated.
Lance Stewart, Charlottesville City Schools facilities maintenance manager, said: "It takes the teachers making sure the doors are shut when the kids come in the building and that custodial closet lights are off and that problems with the building are reported properly. There are 21,000 schools through out the country that are being tracked. Only less than 1,500 are Energy Star-certified. Even our lowest rank[ed] school of 75 is in the top seven percent of schools who track."
School administrators emphasize monthly checks on building energy consumption and urge students and staff to recycle, the story noted.
The state of Virginia has a total of 33 Energy Star-certified schools, which use an average of 40 percent less energy than comparable, non-certified schools, the story added.
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