Energy Conservation

SITE IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Brown Middle School

After $17.3 million in 2017 Hillsboro School District Bond investments for building upgrades, Brown Middle School is already reaping benefits in energy usage savings compared to 2018, a year used as a pre-bond baseline.

Upgrades to Brown’s aging HVAC systems and building envelope (roofing replacement, upgraded roofing insulation, new skylights and windows) produced cumulative savings of over 600,000 kWh in electrical energy usage, and natural gas savings of over 14,000 therms since winter 2018, after the first bond projects were implemented.

In 2022 alone, the annual energy profile (in MBtus) was reduced 21 percent from 2018, for a cost savings of nearly $21,700 (20 percent). This is even after recent utility cost increases of 4.9 percent for electricity in 2022 and the 18 percent rise of natural gas costs from 2018 to 2022.

Brown Middle School expects to continue the benefits of energy efficiency in years to come. While the differences may not be as dramatic when 2023 becomes the new baseline, the school is avoiding the potential additional utility costs (and equipment degradation) that it could have experienced without these energy-efficient investments.