City School System Earns High Marks for Energy Savings

Memphis City Schools Deploys EnerNOC EfficiencySMART Insight to Avoid High Energy Costs

The Organization

Using EfficiencySMART Insight, MCS was able to identify $180,000 in energy savingsWith over 209 schools, Memphis City Schools (MCS) is the 23rd largest district in the nation. When decreased funding led to budget cuts, MCS needed to find a way to decrease their operating expenses. The real question was how to go about doing it? A committed focus on operational energy efficiency was the answer.

The Opportunity

MCS began searching for a low-cost way to help them convert their operational inefficiencies into harvested energy savings. The options that presented themselves included engaging with an Energy Services Company (ESCO), performing multiple building retro-fits, hiring an energy consultant, or using some form of energy management technology. Like many facility teams, the MCS team was looking for ways to maximize staff efficiency, so they looked for an option that did not overload the energy management team with even more tasks. After investigating the various options, MCS decided that the optimal path to short- and long-term payback was to work with EnerNOC.

The Solution

MCS selected EnerNOC’s energy monitoring solution, EfficiencySMART Insight. Because MCS was already an EnerNOC demand response (DR) customer, they were able to use existing DR equipment and offset the cost of energy monitoring through their monthly DemandSMART payments. EnerNOC also solved the issue of staff overload because each Insight deployment includes access to an EnerNOC energy engineer, who actively analyzes the data streaming into the Network Operations Center. EnerNOC’s engineer extends the MCS team, working collaboratively with MCS managers to provide workable, monthly efficiency recommendations that are tracked through to implementation.

The Results

Within 30 days, EnerNOC’s energy analysts uncovered significant savings opportunities. For example, analysts discovered that week night set-back programs had been overridden or were otherwise not being enacted in several buildings. EnerNOC also uncovered significant potential to reduce energy usage even further during off-hours shutdown at 15 schools. If left undetected, these actions could have created $180,000 in annual energy costs for MCS. Instead, EfficiencySMART Insight helped MCS avoid these additional costs and encourage more efficient operations overall.