Energy Conservation

The Medford School District is committed to conserving natural resources and enhancing the learning environment by promoting energy efficiency and conservation across the district.

Resource Conservation Mission Statement

The Medford School District is dedicated to providing a safe and comfortable learning environment through efficient and effective use of district resources.

Conservation and Sustainability Policy

To help promote and foster an environment of fiscal and resource conservation, all staff read and agree to the Resource Conservation Policy once a year.  This policy is a quantifiable tool with which we can measure our success and compare it to other buildings across the country.

By adopting a Conservation and Sustainability policy, the Medford School District has established its commitment to reducing both our energy consumption, associated costs and the need for resource management across the district.

Goals and Objectives - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely

• Work with the Energy Trust of Oregon’s Strategic Energy Management (SEM) program to establish an energy use baseline for each district site, and to help build a foundation for continuous energy savings.
• Monitor and reconcile all utility billings. Any areas of increased energy and water consumption will be investigated to ensure applicable corrective measures are taken.
• Evaluate each District site to identify future energy efficient improvement opportunities
• Establish an energy and waste site inspection program to give feedback to each District site.
• All capital projects and purchases will take energy efficiency and its environmental impact into account.
• Each site will maintain a recycling program.
• Increase every site’s resource conservation participation through education and feedback
• In partnership with the District’s Communication Specialist, the District will capitalize on public relation opportunities to message and highlight the District’s conservation effort to the community.

Energy Trust of Oregon

Senate Bill 1149 requires that Oregon's two largest investor-owned utilities, Portland General Electric (PGE) and PacifiCorp, collect a one and a half percent "public purpose charge" from customers. Public K-12 schools within the PGE and PacifiCorp service areas receive twenty percent to implement energy efficiency projects and/or purchase zero emissions vehicles or electric vehicle chargers within the school districts.

SB1149 link: https://www.oregon.gov/energy/energy-oregon/Pages/SB1149.aspx

The district has received over $3 million from the SB1149 fund to help fund infrastructure upgrades.

Part of the utility money is also used to run the Energy Trust of Oregon program.

Since 2015 the Medford School District has partnered with Energy Trust of Oregon to improve energy efficiency. The program offers cash incentives to help upgrade equipment and infrastructure, technical studies to prioritize projects, and participation in Strategic Energy Management (SEM). SEM is an interactive program that provides tools and education to save energy today and continue saving over time.

From 2015 to 2022, the SEM program has paid $104,044 to the district for participation.

Recycling

The Medford School district recycles paper and assorted paper products, Plastic bottles, newspaper, tin, aluminum, and cardboard. Bottles and cans that have a deposit are gathered by the various schools to fund activities and wish-lists.

 

Questions, comments or interested in joining the Energy Team?  Please contact the Resource Conservation Specialist.