Mansfield ISD’s energy efficiency program was recognized by the Office of the Governor and The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality with their Innovative Operations/Management award, the state’s highest environmental honor given by the commission.MISD is the only school district in Texas to earn this distinction at the 25th annual Texas Environmental Excellence Awards ceremony. These prestigious awards bring attention to the most innovative and effective projects that strive to protect the state’s natural resources.“As a public school district, we are not only educators, we are stewards of our community’s resources,” said Mansfield ISD Superintendent Dr. Jim Vaszauskas. “Our leadership makes it a priority to steward those resources well and for the past ten years our energy conservation programs have dramatically increased our energy efficiency, saved tax dollars and encouraged a culture that teaches our students and staff to practice energy saving behaviors at home as well as at school.”MISD serves more than 33,000 students, 40 percent who are Arlington residents, across more than 6 million square feet of building area. The district is committed to energy conservation and encourages its students and community to join them in saving energy at school and at home.Key accomplishments include:
- Reducing utility costs by more than $1.8 million, improving energy efficiency by more than 21% across district schools and cutting more than 5,550 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2016.
- Reducing water usage by over 86 million gallons through smart irrigation practices, prompt responses to plumbing and irrigation maintenance work orders and preventative maintenance.
- Saving more than $7.1 million since 2012 through concerted conservation efforts, working with Cenergistic and benchmarking district buildings in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager®.
- Reducing electrical usage by over 9 million kilowatt hours through targeted scheduling of building systems, preventative maintenance of lighting and HVAC equipment and educating students and staff on efficient practices in classrooms and offices.
- Earning more ENERGY STAR re-certifications than any district in the state of Texas—41 schools and support facilities have earned a total of 293 ENERGY STAR re-certifications in the past 10 years.
- Inspiring nearly a 1,000 students to take the ENERGY STAR Pledge to save energy.
For more information about the award, visit the Texas Environmental Excellence Awards website.
