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Staff at Little Cypress-Mauriceville Consolidated Independent School District are achieving big savings with energy-efficient behavior — and now those good habits are earning national recognition.

Little Cypress-Mauriceville Consolidated Independent School District has achieved a 19 percent cost savings totaling $394,243 in 30 months since forming a strategic alliance with Cenergistic, a national energy conservation company, which will present the organization with its Environmental Excellence Award January 12th.

“Reaching this level of savings at this stage of the program is a significant achievement. Little Cypress-Mauriceville Consolidated Independent School District has done an excellent job of implementing Cenergistic’s organizational behavior-based approach to energy conservation and maintaining productive efforts at all levels of the organization. The administration and all staff members are to be commended for clearly fulfilling their commitment to being good stewards of the organization’s energy dollars and the environment,” said Dr. William S. Spears, Chairman and Founder of Cenergistic.

“Strong support from everyone involved in the organization has created an atmosphere of cooperation that should continue to grow and ensure even greater success well into the future,” Dr. Spears said. “I am extremely pleased to present Little Cypress-Mauriceville Consolidated Independent School District with our Environmental Excellence Award.”

According to Dr.

Pauline Hargrove, LCM CISD Superintendent, “LCM is honored and humbled to receive the national Environmental Excellence Award! This distinguished recognition reflects our commitment to be good stewards of all that is entrusted to us.

Our goal is to provide the highest quality of education possible in the most efficient and effective manner.

Maximizing taxpayers’ dollars through energy conservation benefits everyone and our environment.

This achievement is due to the cooperative efforts of each person in our district.

I congratulate and appreciate each one!” Greg Perry, LCM CISD Assistant Superintendent concurs.

“We are very excited to be receiving this Environmental Excellence Award.

Energy savings have been stressed continuously since we started this program, and now it is part of our normal daily operations.

All the LCM faculty and staff are dedicated to being good stewards of taxpayer money, and the savings that have been realized in this program are proof that we are being successful.”

A primary benefit of the Cenergistic program is that all costs come out of the existing utility budget, with savings projected to more than pay for the program, as they have done for Little Cypress-Mauriceville Consolidated Independent School District. Additional savings can be redirected to other parts of the budget.

The conservation program examines all areas of energy use throughout Little Cypress-Mauriceville Consolidated Independent School District.

Cenergistic’s conservation experts — in natural gas and electricity, water and sewer, HVAC systems, Energy Management Systems (EMS) and mechanical systems, behavior modification, communications, grounds care, data analysis, information systems management, organization development, construction management, human resources, utility rate structures, and many other areas of specialization that positively impact energy conservation — work closely with Little Cypress-Mauriceville Consolidated Independent School District’s Energy Specialist, Mr. Lockwood Cox.

They train him to analyze all energy use throughout the organization’s systems, and to ensure that energy is used as efficiently as possible, following Cenergistic’s energy management program.

The program delivers an environmental benefit from a reduced carbon footprint. Energy not used prevents the emission of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. According to EPA/EGrid figures, in the first 30 months of the program, Little Cypress-Mauriceville Consolidated Independent School District saved 13,849 MMBTU, the equivalent of 109 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions being prevented, 23 cars removed from the road, or 2,785 pine trees grown for 10 years.

Mr. Cox tracks energy consumption — including electricity, water, sewer, natural gas and fuel oil — using energy-accounting software. He compares current energy use to a baseline period and calculates the amount of energy that would have been used had conservation and management practices not been implemented. By tracking consumption and analyzing energy use, he can quickly identify and correct areas that need immediate attention.

Cenergistic is a technology-powered, data-driven energy conservation company. Cenergistic helps organizations reduce consumption of electricity, natural gas, fuel oil and water. Its proven approach is built on a proprietary methodology, which optimizes clients’ infrastructure, improves internal processes and changes behavior to ensure that savings endure. This approach empowers the average client to save 20 – 30% off expected utility bills. For the past six years, Cenergistic has earned national recognition from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, including the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Photo - Cenergistic presented the award to the District on Monday, Jan. 12, during the monthly Board meeting. Those pictured are, from left, Don Anderson, Marlene Courmier, Woody Cox, Roy Mazzagate, Greg Perry, Rex Peveto, David Jones, Dr. Pauline Hargrove, Jason Woods, Dr. Leonard Merrill, Phillip Matthews and Tammy Rountree.