Mary Castle Elementary School Goes Green and Earns the ENERGY STAR(R) for Superior Energy Efficiency

Mary Castle of the Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) prestigious ENERGY STAR, the national symbol for superior energy efficiency and environmental protection. Commercial and industrial buildings, including K-12 schools that rate as the most energy efficient facilities in the nation may qualify for the ENERGY STAR. Mary Castle is distinguished as one of just 12 Indiana public schools with the ENERGY STAR efficiency rating. Less than one percent of Indiana school buildings have qualified for the designation.

"Lawrence Township is very pleased to accept EPA's ENERGY STAR in recognition of our energy efficiency efforts," said Dr. Ed Williams, Assistant Superintendent. "One of our district's strategic goals is for all students to attend physical facilities that provide an optimal learning environment. The infrastructure improvements made to our HVAC, illumination and digital control systems has resulted in dramatic environmental improvements as well as lowered our energy operating costs. The results of the renovation project have exceeded our expectations and set an efficiency goal for other schools in the district."

School and commercial buildings that earn the ENERGY STAR use less energy than typical buildings and release less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Mary Castle has saved $28,649 in energy bills in a two-year period and has prevented greenhouse gas emissions of 255 metric tons, equivalent to the electricity use of 34 homes for an entire year.*

To earn the ENERGY STAR, Lawrence Township schools partnered with Performance Services, Inc., an Indiana-based design build company that specializes in energy savings projects in K-12 Schools. Together, optimal learning environment criteria and rigorous indoor air quality and lighting standards were established. Solutions for Mary Castle included a new HVAC system with digital controls, new energy efficient and improved lighting, and new windows and outside doors throughout the school. Indoor air quality is also routinely monitored with CO2 sensors in classrooms.

"It's been a pleasure to work with Lawrence Township schools. It's rewarding to work collaboratively with their people in creating an optimal learning environment for every student, lowering energy costs and helping the environment by reducing carbon emissions. We continue our work with several other Lawrence schools and look forward to similar or even greater results," said Tim Thoman, President of Performance Services, an ENERGY STAR partner. Performance Services has performed guaranteed energy savings projects in 7 of the 12 Indiana school buildings that have achieved the ENERGY STAR rating or are in the final stages of the approval process.

For more information about ENERGY STAR visit https://www.energystar.gov .

For more information about M.S.D. of Lawrence Township, visit https://www.ltschools.org/ .

*To calculate greenhouse gas emissions, please visit http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html .

CONTACT: Arlene Gavin Performance Services, Inc. (317) 713-1750 Email Contact