(L to R): Jeff Pulkinen ATEM, Director of Energy Management & Aaron Whitener, Assistant Director of Energy Management

For the first time in district history, every campus building in Dickinson ISD has qualified for Energy Star Certification. Energy Star certified buildings save energy, money, and help protect the environment by generating fewer greenhouse gas emissions than typical buildings. To become certified as Energy Star, a building must meet strict energy performance standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Specifically, to be eligible for Energy Star certification, a building must earn an Energy Star score of 75 or higher on EPA’s 1-100 scale, indicating that it performs better than at least 75 percent of similar buildings nationwide. This year, all of DISD’s campuses scored the minimum 75% or higher to become eligible for Energy Star certification. Six of our buildings scored an outstanding 90% or higher this year.  

'The success of our program is a result of the dedication of hundreds of Dickinson ISD employees who make the commitment to help conserve energy by following shutdown procedures daily at their campuses.” said Jeff Pulkinen, Director of Energy Management. "DISD Energy Management team is committed to conserving energy and spreading awareness of our efforts district wide."

Campus and building staff are trained to follow daily energy shutdown procedures so that we have minimal energy consumed when our buildings are not in use. They also participate in long break building shutdowns during holiday seasons and spring and summer breaks to ensure that our buildings consume as little energy as possible while students and teachers enjoy their time off. The DISD Maintenance Department staff including HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and custodial teams keep our equipment and buildings operating as efficiently as possible 

"We are proud to say we have accumulated more than $9 million dollars in savings since the inception of the Energy Management Department in 2011.” said Aaron Whitener, Assistant Director of Energy Management.

These environmental savings are equivalent to 42,853 Metric Tons of CO2 not emitted into the environment, or 8,928 passenger cars not driven for one year, and 1,098,793 tree seedlings grown for 10 years. 

Thank you, DISD! Your efforts to help conserve energy make a huge impact on our savings as well as the district’s carbon footprint.