Coalition Campaigns For Investment in Energy-Efficient Schools

By Peter Schmidt

Inspired by a report estimating that public schools waste $1.85 billion in energy costs each year, a loose coalition of education groups, businesses, and federal agencies has undertaken a campaign to urge school leaders to invest in making their buildings more energy-efficient.

The campaign's message appears to run against the current, its leaders acknowledge, because many school districts are responding to recession-driven budget pressures by postponing the very types of capital-improvement projects the coalition is calling for.

"Our studies show that the biggest reason people say they are not doing energy work is a lack of funds,'' said Shirley J. Hansen, an energy consultant who has had a central role...