ENERGY IMPROVEMENTS SHOULD SAVE SCHOOLS $10,000 A YEAR

Energy saving improvements funded by a state loan should save Cape Girardeau schools more than $10,000 a year.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources approved loans for five school districts through the Division of Energy's school-loan program. Districts use the money to carry out energy conservation measures on school facilities.

Cape Girardeau has received $50,759 to install new lighting, heating and other energy saving measures in the high school's new gymnasium.

The annual energy savings to be generated by the improvements is estimated at $10,151.

Zalma School District in Bollinger County has received $4,295 to replace a heating plant at the elementary school. Annual energy savings to be generated by the improvements is estimated at $859.

Barry Pender, director of maintenance for the Cape Girardeau district, said: "We are in the process of getting the equipment for the project. Bids for the work will be opened on Monday.

"The new gym facility is all electric, and the peak demand charges we receive often exceed the bill itself," Pender said. "We are looking for systems to lower that peak demand."

Metal halide lights will replace fluorescent lighting in the gymnasium. Pender said the new lights are more energy efficient and the lighting will be improved.

A hot-water-heating system will be installed that is more energy efficient than the electric heaters in place in the ductwork. A new water-heating system for the shower area is also planned.

Pender said programmable thermostats will be installed to help regulate temperature and control costs.

"The DNR will loan you five times the one-year payback of the project," Pender said. "The amount of energy savings will pay for the loan."

The loan must be repaid in five years; the interest rate is 2 percent.

Pender said the district used utility bills from last year to predict the savings. "Our utility demands were low, so our actual savings will probably be higher," he said.

This is the first time Cape Girardeau has applied for the loan. Pender said the district will look at other funding sources for similar projects.

Cape Girardeau's loan is more than four times larger than any of the others approved.

"These loans are a way of providing better education through energy efficiency," said Missouri Department of Natural Resources Director David A. Shorr. "The money saved by the school can be applied to other educational priorities; the energy saved protects the environment and reduces our dependence on imported fuels."

The school-loan program was authorized by the Missouri General Assembly in 1986, and is financed through funds allocated to the states from fines paid by oil companies for alleged overpricing in the 1970s.

Public schools, kindergarten through grade 12, can finance energy conservation projects for existing buildings through the program.