While solar panels covering the roof lines at a number of Newtown schools provide a more visible reminder that the town has embraced alternate energy generation, the fixtures and bulbs that light a number of local schools, along with heating equipment that warms those buildings during the coldest months, are somewhat more hidden money savers for local taxpayers.

Recent interviews with district Director of Facilities Gino Faiella and Public Works Director Fred Hurley illustrate the escalating number of efficiencies being employed along with both potential and actual dollars saved. Those recent installations and upgrades have also produced equipment rebates and provided zero-interest loans to acquire the equipment, relieving taxpayers of the upfront expense of these improvements.

According to Mr Faiella, new high efficiency installations at Middle Gate Elementary School and Newtown Middle School were budgeted to cost $1.8 million, but as a result of partnering with the gas and electricity utility Eversource, Newtown has already received rebates of $211,475.

The new equipment at just these two schools, which includes LED lighting upgrades, new high efficiency gas- fired boilers, high efficiency pumps with variable frequency drives (VFDs), and upgraded building management systems, are anticipated to recoup in excess of $200,000 in savings annually.

Cost Comparison

School Business Manager Ron Bienkowski provided a before and after comparison of energy costs for Middle Gate School, which now has more than a full year experience with the new equipment.

In 2016, the years prior to the LED lighting upgrade, electrical consumption at Middle Gate cost the district $53,883, while electrical costs for the full year with the LED system was $36,703.

The cost for heating oil - the final year before the gas boiler changeover - was $85,423, while the first full year on the high efficiency gas system was $25,893.

The district anticipates the cost for the current year's gas consumption to be approximately $28,482, while Mr Bienkowski expects the electrical cost to drop this year to $34,406.

In addition, once the energy upgrades were completed and verified by the utility, Newtown received an added $70,699 to apply to the capital costs of the project, Mr Bienkowski said.

Mr Hurley said that savings registering on the meter now are the result of work done among district representatives, his department, and the Newtown Sustainable Energy Commission that began nearly a decade ago.

At that time, funds derived from a small percentage of each ratepayer's utility bills were made available to both residents and commercial entities interested in improving energy efficiency.

The rebates and incentives eventually received by Newtown were part of the commercial segment of this effort - a program called Small Business Advantage.

"Under this program, we were able to apply as if these individual schools were commercial businesses," Mr Hurley said. "We had audits done on each building by the utility, which identified energy-saving measures that could be applied - many of which were already identified for rebates.

So taking advantage of these savings really represented low-hanging fruit that we just went out and picked, based on the projects we were able to do."

Once installations are verified by Eversource, rebate and incentive payments are distributed.

Mr Hurley said the first school to tap the program was the new Sandy Hook Elementary School, which maximized the installation of energy-saving equipment during its construction process.

"When we saw the substantial rebate that came from those installations, it became an ongoing process to participate as we were able to tackle these projects as upgrades at various other schools," he said.

So why is Eversource so willing to give money back?

Mr Hurley said the more residential and commercial buildings that install and employ some or all of the measures identified in energy audits, electrical generation and its related costs are reduced.

"By cutting demand, it helps mitigate congestion charges we are all forced to pay for bringing a lot more energy into the system than we are generating ourselves," he explained. "Everybody benefits from a reduction in energy consumption, so there is a benefit to all ratepayers, even if they are not utilizing any efficiency measures."

Benefits Adding Up

Instead of including upgrade and installation costs in the district operating budget or in long-term bonding, Mr Hurley said Newtown took advantage of relatively short-term zero-interest loans to complete the projects. The loan paybacks can then be budgeted and metered out over a four-year schedule, "and you pay those loans off [in part or full] from the savings generated on your utility bills."

Mr Hurley said the more challenging task of determining how much of the loan balance will be offset by energy savings is being calculated now.

"It's a little bit challenging because of the regular fluctuations in energy costs," he said. "We have to prorate the savings year-to-year. It's not as simple as we used to pay $2 and now we pay $1."

While not part of the immediate discussion, Mr Hurley said another taxpayer benefit comes because the town was able to negotiate a series of fixed, 25-year electric rates, which he said provide a hedge against upward fluctuations and volatility in those rates.

While taxpayers are reaping the long-term benefits of existing energy-efficiency measures, and will add benefits as more planned installations are completed at schools, Mr Hurley also pointed out another initiative that has realized even more savings.

In order for Sandy Hook and Middle Gate Schools to be able to install their high efficiency gas equipment, they needed access to gas pipelines to supply the fuel to burn. If left to the utility to provide or contract for these gas line projects, it would have cost Newtown as much as $675,000.

But Mr Hurley said Public Works crews stepped in instead of using outside contractors, so any additional cash outlay for that trenching and pipeline-related work was eliminated.

"For Middle Gate, Public Works ran all the trenching and pipeline from way behind the adjacent shopping center," Mr Faiella said. "That was a little over 3,200 feet of trenching and piping. They also did all the backfilling and seeding. That was free of charge - no cost to taxpayers [beyond the daily cost of the local employees and equipment used]. His department did a great job, and this is just one example of how we share services to save taxpayers money."

Part of the heating system at Hawley School has already been replaced with high efficiency gas-fired boilers, Mr Faiella said, and plans to upgrade the rest of the building's heating plant are in process.

That work will also consolidate the space needed for heating equipment and will open up a basement room currently housing heating equipment for the oldest front section of the building for other uses.

Mr Faiella said the 1969 boiler at Newtown High School is next on the list for replacement, and then it will be time to look at efficiencies that can be applied at Reed Intermediate School.

"I want to eventually get all the school facilities equipped with the highest efficiency heating and lighting systems," he said.