Seeing green
PUSD ‘Green Czar’ Chris Anderson’s one-man energy education campaign aims to save millions — and teachers’jobs
By Sara Cardine 07/07/2011
Chris Anderson just can’t keep away from Pasadena High School. A graduate of the Class of 1990, Anderson left his alma mater to get his master’s degree and pursue a career in engineering. He had no way of knowing then that some 10 years later he would not only come back to PHS as a math teacher, but would one day lie on his belly in the school’s cobweb-strewn electrical closets and walk with a small pen light through the darkness of the auditorium on a million-dollar mission to save teachers’ jobs.
In May, Anderson was promoted from the teacher ranks of Pasadena High, where he’d instructed students for 12 years in all levels of math, to become Pasadena Unified School District’s first-ever energy education specialist. His job duties include conducting school audits, reporting his findings to administrators and district officials and, on a less spectacular note, turning off lights and computers all over town.
“I was a student, then I was a teacher here. Now I audit the school,” Anderson says, examining a dusty electrical room during a recent energy audit of the PHS campus. “These lights should not be on — how often do people even come in here?”
His position, which has been referred to casually as PUSD’s “Green Czar,” is the lynchpin of a behavior-based program that literally banks on the district’s ability to save vast amounts of energy at the individual level. The decision to turn off a single unused computer monitor can save $30 a year. Multiply that by the number of computers at a school and then again by the number of schools in the district, and goal to save $1 million a year seems feasible.
“More people are attracted to the money side of it, but for me, it’s really about the people side of it,” says Anderson. “I know these savings are going to save people’s jobs. Depending on the pay scale, that could be 15 teachers.”
PUSD Chief Financial Officer John Pappalardo hired Anderson as part of a contract between the district and Energy Education Inc., a Dallas-based company that claims to have helped more than 1,100 school districts, universities, churches and community centers nationwide save a collective $2.3 billion in energy costs.
Anderson’s vigilance could very well help the district hit the goal of reducing energy use by 20 percent and saving an annual $1 million, says Pappalardo. The program is about saving money during tough fiscal times, reducing dependency on utility districts and minimizing PUSD’s overall environmental impact — a rare win-win-win situation.
All the money saved by the reductions will go directly into the district’s general fund, from which teacher salaries are paid. “Every dollar we save is going to saving jobs in the district,” he adds.
Anderson is a one-man energy education campaign, who spends nearly 60 hours a week auditing each of the district’s 29 school campuses. He is looking for signs of waste — lights and computer monitors left on after school or air-conditioners still running at 11 p.m.
The PHS audit marks his fifth of the day. The day before, he went on seven audits, and he aims to have visited 35 campuses by the end of the week. Anderson earns an annual salary of about $100,000 — which reflects his normal teacher salary on a 12-month pay scale plus compensation for his degree and tenure at PUSD, Pappalardo explains. If he successfully saves $1 million a year, he will be earning his salary 10 times over.
“I’d say 1,000 percent return’s not bad,” Pappalardo jokes.
During his audit of the PHS campus, Anderson checks in on classrooms and the larger, shared spaces on campus — the auditorium, theater and computer labs, where teachers leave things running, assuming another class will use the space later. If no one else comes in, the electricity stays on until a custodian makes the rounds, sometimes as late as 8 or 9 p.m.
First, Anderson listens for the telltale buzz that indicates something is on. As he walks, he switches things off, making notes that will be part of a weekly report he will later make to school administrators. The idea is that, over time, habits will change as people realize energy use is being closely watched by the district.
“There’s nothing punitive about it, they just get warnings,” Anderson reassures. “It’s still early in the process, and it takes a while to change people’s habits.”
During the visit, Anderson talks to nearly everyone he passes, lets them know who he is and what he’s doing there. He chats briefly with a custodian about the campus and asks the school secretary for a password to access the school’s computers. Sometimes, he hands out small yellow fliers to spread the word about the program and the $1 million goal to teachers and staff who pass by.
Hiring an education energy specialist was only one part of PUSD’s agreement with EEI. The district also paid for energy management software that will enable it to accurately track and report energy use and process bills while accounting for changes in climate from year to year, Pappalardo says. The idea is to help create a behavioral shift throughout all schools that will add up to big savings over time.
According to the agreement, EEI will receive 35 percent of the money the PUSD saves. If, at any time, the district’s expenses for the program exceed its savings, EEI will pay for the difference, including Anderson’s salary, adds Pappalardo.
But that’s not an option in Anderson’s mind, because he’s goal oriented and aiming for not a $1 million savings, but $1.5 million. After the audits, he will process each and every utility bill in the district. The focus after that will be water conservation, then sewer system improvements and, hopefully one day, finding grants to install more solar panels. In four or five years, if all goes well, PUSD’s $1 million ambitions will be a scant memory.
“I have so many big ideas, a lot of big ideas,” he says, squinting up into the sun at some solar panels on PHS’ rooftop. “If people cooperate, by the time I’m done — $1 million, that’s going to be a low estimate, in my mind,” says Anderson.
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