MOUNT VERNON — An energy conservation project implemented in December 2007 has saved the Mount Vernon City School District more than $250,000 in electricity, heating and cooling costs in the one year since the project was completed.

The energy savings project was done in conjunction with CCG Energy Solutions Inc. Its president, Brian Wagner, presented a report to the board of education at its meeting on Monday.

The energy conservation program, which cost $1,337,062, included upgrades to the gymnasium lighting at the high school and Pleasant Street Elementary. The high school gym lighting cost savings, Wagner said, was $7,231; Pleasant Street’s upgrades, he said, saved the district $3,788.

The biggest success story, said Wagner, is the middle school. Building improvements there included a complete redesign of the heating system and chilled water system, a complete building automation system upgrade and a complete lighting upgrade.

Middle school gas usage went from 8,135 Mcfs to 2,171 Mcfs. (one Mcf is 1,000 cubic feet.) Electrical usage dropped from 3,203,174 kilowatt-hours to 875,600 kWh, a savings of more than 2 million kWh. Those reductions, said Wagner, mean gas for the middle school cost $71,621 less and the electricity savings came to $178,142. Those savings, he said, far exceed the estimates projected before the project was completed.

Because the project was implemented through the HB 264 energy conservation program, the district was able to fund the project using the cost savings from the improvements and no additional taxpayer funds were needed. Wagner said the original estimates projected the energy savings would pay back the project costs in 11 1/2 years.

“With these actual numbers,” he told the board, “payoff could come in less than 2 1/2 years. This is a great success story for all of us.”

Wagner said that with its new energy consumption rate of 68 cents per square foot, the Mount Vernon Middle School has gone from an Energy Star rating of 1, the lowest possible, to an Energy Star rating of 94 by EPA guidelines. That rating qualifies the middle school to begin the certification process for the EPA’s Energy Star award, which is given to buildings with a rating of 75 or higher. Thirty-seven school buildings in Ohio are Energy Star rated at this time.

The reduced energy use by the Mount Vernon City Schools also helps the environment, Wagner said, explaining that it will prevent a significant amount of pollutants from being released into the atmosphere each year, roughly equivalent to taking 271 cars off the road. He estimated more than 3 1/2 million pounds of carbon dioxide, about 40,000 pounds of sulfur dioxide and nearly 20,000 pounds of nitrogen oxide will not be emitted because of the district’s energy conservation program.