The students at Alan B. Shepard High School in Palos Heights have involved their home, school and community in their EnergyNet project. Students began learning about energy use by conducting energy audits of their homes that included reading meters and drawing floor plans. Next, students focused on an energy audit of their school building. Students presented recommendations to their school board that included:

• turning off lights in empty hallways during classes
• sealing outer doors
• placing lights on timers at night

When EnergyNet team members were investigating the school. s building envelope, they had a difficult time understanding "R" values. Their teacher arranged for a field trip to a nearby construction site with the help of their Community Partnership Initiative team. Students were able to walk through partially built houses to see how the materials used in walls, windows and doors relate to "R" values and impacts energy use in buildings.

  When Secretary of Energy Hazel O. Leary visited Amundsen High School in Chicago, students presented their EnergyNet experiences and findings to her. She was so impressed with their achievements that she instructed the US Department of Energy's Chicago Office to continue interactions with the school.

  Students at Antioch Upper Grade School in Antioch were motivated to create a recycling program for their school.

   Freshmen students in science classes at Brownstown High School completed an extensive audit of their school. s lighting. They told school board members that the district could save $2,500 a year, or 20% of their school. s electric bill, if 66 incandescent lights were replaced with fluorescent fixtures.

  The students at Carl Sandburg Junior High School in Rolling Meadows conducted an energy audit of the school building and focused on lighting. Students implemented a "turn out the lights" campaign in the school and handed out energy-related brochures that were created by students. In addition, they suggested that the School Board install lighting sensors and reflectors to reduce energy costs.

  EnergyNet students at Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park divided into six task forces to collect data, use the Internet, prepare reports and share information with the larger team. They collected data on lighting, windows, doors, equipment, electricity use, and natural gas consumption in one of three buildings on their campus. Carl Sandburg EnergyNet team members also completed home energy audits which taught them how to compare energy costs of natural gas and electricity and make cost comparisons between incandescent and fluorescent lights.

Students at Carl Sandburg High School used their communications skills by writing articles on energy-related topics for the MESH (9th grade block program of math, English, science, and history) newsletter.

  In part due to the two years of work by EnergyNet team members at Central Community High School in Breese, the school board sought funding for new HVAC units for the school and upgraded the roof and insulation. In addition, students did a comparative study of old versus new lighting.

Central students also created a home energy audit packet to teach general science classes about energy.

   When the EnergyNet team at Community High School District No. 94 in West Chicago presented information to their school board, students displayed an assortment of projects (letters, poetry, artwork) related to school's energy use.

  When the EnergyNet team at Cowden Herrick High School used EnergyNet' s online data tables to compare their school's energy use with others, they discovered that their school spends $17,000 a year over state averages. Their energy audit found the culprit. bad windows which leaked heat. Students invited an architect to the school to help them design a solution, then told their school board that new windows would pay for themselves in nine years. Board action is pending, but officials told the students it was the best payback projection they had ever received.

 The EnergyNet team at East Peoria Community High School helped the school receive over $500,000 in energy grants to make improvements. As a result, the team calculated that the school district's natural gas/ heating bills were reduced by 50% and electric bills decreased by 33%.

 EnergyNet students at Edwardsville High School became so motivated by the potential for energy savings that they created an energy awareness day for the student body. The team also created a pop-up book on energy awareness for children.

 Students managed the EnergyNet project at Eureka High School. They worked as a team to set goals and complete tasks. They even created and delivered energy-related lesson plans for peer teaching. As part of the project, students developed a recycling program for the school and then received a $400 grant to advertise the program.

 Every student at Future Commons High School in Chicago played a role in the EnergyNet project. That's because other curriculum was set aside for two weeks while students worked on EnergyNet. They came up with these recommendations for improvements:

• replacement of air conditioners with a payback of 2.6 years
• replacement of the boilers that were installed in 1936
• replacement of the thermostats because the room temperatures can vary as much as 35 degrees from the coldest to the warmest room

 EnergyNet team members at Gallatin County High school had the chance to compare the old and the new. Students began the project by analyzing their school's electric and gas bills and found the older school to be fairly efficient in fuel use. In the midst of the project, students moved into a new school and completed another energy audit. They found the newer facility was also energy efficient but recommended that the school switch from T-12 to T-8 fluorescent tubes.

 The EnergyNet team at Gompers Junior High School in Joliet made a giant discovery at an EnergyNet Data Analysis Workshop. Students identified a $4000 utility billing error. Students contacted ComEd about the error and the school received a refund. In addition, students recommended that their school board pay for some low-cost improvements including weatherstripping and caulking of doors and windows.

The EnergyNet team at Gompers Junior High School took to the airwaves to share their energy savings message. Students provided energy tips once a week over the school's news program. They even made a video to show how they fixed the school doors with weatherstripping.

 The freshman Biology class at Greenville High School completed a lighting audit on the oldest part of their school building. In their audit report, the EnergyNet team included calculations of the hourly cost of using lights in each of the rooms. They put that information on stickers that were placed on light switches in every room in the school.

 The EnergyNet team at Guilford High School in Rockford found support for energy savings within their student council. Students in two chemistry classes analyzed utility bills and audited the building. They motivated art classes to help in a poster campaign to raise energy awareness at school. The efforts resulted in a fundraising campaign by the Student Council which paid for the installation of energy saving UV film over the windows on one side of the school building.

EnergyNet students also discovered that lighting was a major energy waster for the school. They recommended LEDs for exit signs, light sensors for bathrooms, compact fluorescent bulbs in closets and light reflectors in hallways. The school's building engineer consulted with students during their work.

 EnergyNet team members at Hartsburg-Emden High School started a successful recycling program at their school while students in the environmental science classes surveyed the school's windows, doors and walls. Students proposed a wide range of energy saving improvements to the board from low-cost caulking and weatherstripping to changing outdated windows.

 At Homewood Flossmoor High School, VoTech students made up the EnergyNet team. When students had a difficult time understanding "R" values, the lead teacher came up with a unique way to teach the concept. He had students create miniature homes out of wood and insulate them. Students placed a candle inside the home and used a thermometer to show how quickly or slowly the home lost heat depending on the insulation and materials used. The lesson is featured in the EnergyNet curriculum.

 The students at Hononegah High School did "home work" for their introduction to the EnergyNet project. Students divided into groups, completed energy audits of their homes and gave oral and written presentations on their findings to other members of their class.

 The EnergyNet team at Keith Country Day School had award winning success in their first year. The school received the Illinois Energy Education Department's (ILEED) project award. Students completed an energy audit, researched energy conservation measures and have made sweeping recommendations for energy saving improvements. They have recommended:

• closing an outside door during winter months
• hosting a school wide caulking and weatherstripping party
• retrofitting exit signs with LED bulbs
• turning off lights in empty rooms
• replacing poor insulation

Students worked to change the energy use habits of the people in the school building by sharing energy related information in daily announcements and by organizing a school wide poster campaign. Students also took their message to the lower levels by hosting a Light Switch Awareness Day.

 When the EnergyNet team at LeRoy Junior/Senior High School audited their local schools, they found that the grade school had three hot water heaters and the high school had none. The high school used its boiler system to heat water in the winter. In the summer, maintenance workers either had to restart the boiler, or do without hot water altogether. The school board agreed with students that a considerable amount of money was being wasted and readily accepted their solution- that one of the hot water heaters in the grade school be moved to the high school.

 Mater Dei Catholic High School recommended that the school use nature to provide their first energy savings. The HVAC team recommended planting trees along one side of the building to block out cold north winds during the winter months. The school board acted quickly on this suggestion.

Next, the Mater Dei High School team completed an energy audit on a sister school, All Saints Academy. Their recommendations to the school board included:

• replacing light bulbs in exit signs
• sealing leaks around doors and windows
• adding insulation above the ceiling tiles

The EnergyNet team at Monticello High School presented creative energy saving suggestions to their school board. Recommendations included:

• putting soda machines on timers
• decreasing lighting in the halls
• putting lights in some rooms on timers
• making better use of natural lighting
• replacing the heating system with a more efficient model

Students also suggested that they launch an energy awareness campaign in August which is the month when the school uses the most electricity.

 The EnergyNet team at Nokomis High School brought about some big changes in school lighting. Their first recommendation to the school board aimed to net the school $3,000 a year after a two and a half year payback period. They suggested changing the lighting fixtures to more efficient models. Next students tracked their energy savings from lighting changes and moved outdoors. Students focused on the football field that was in the midst of revision. The school board accepted recommendations to install more energy efficient lighting on the football field.

The Nokomis High School EnergyNet team shifted their focus from the lights to the boiler room by tracking the energy efficiency updates to the school's boiler. Students monitored the school to see if conditions in the building had improved and checked heating degree days and utility bills to see if energy use had decreased.

The EnergyNet team at Olympia High School gathered support for their energy auditing from one of the project sponsors, the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA). The Olympia school district received a Technical Assistance Grant from DCCA. The school also participated in an Illinova performance contract which included a provision allowing students to be paid to perform portions of the audit outside of regular school hours. Illinova agreed to provide audit training in the classroom setting.

 The EnergyNet students at Pioneer Junior High School in Dunlap made bar graphs of the equipment used in each room and how much it cost to run the equipment. They gave copies of the graphs to every teacher as an incentive to save energy. Then, they challenged the students and staff at their school to apply the ECMs to try and save on utility costs. They also developed Pioneer's Top 50 list of ECM's.

 A research class at Pittsfield High School completed lighting and equipment audits in each of the schools in their school district. Students learned about energy auditing while accompanying energy engineer Karen Winter during an inspection of the buildings.

In addition, Pittsfield HS EnergyNet students proved to school administrators that new lighting fixtures use less energy by connecting electric meters to rows of old and new fixtures and monitoring readings. The students also discovered that the old lighting ballasts caused a flicker effect which resulted in eye strain and tiredness.

 Students at Proviso East High School in Maywood have looked at a wide range of energy conservation measures during their work with EnergyNet. The school board accepted the students' first recommendation for a lighting retrofit in administrative offices. Other recommendations have included the installation of:

• a cogeneration plant at the school
• solar panels to pre-heat water used by the boiler system
• infrared sensors in closets and bathrooms

In order to show the school board the way infrared sensors work, the school's maintenance staff helped students build a wooden maze with a lighting fixture on the bottom. Two light bulbs were hooked to one sensor and two were hooked to a second sensor. They sent a mouse through the maze showing how the sensors reacted to movement.

 Students at Reed-Custer High School in Braidwood shared their knowledge of energy by holding an energy conservation poster contest at school. They also created a home energy audit manual.

 The school board members at Rochester High School were amazed at the findings presented by their EnergyNet students. The team focused on one room which had all incandescent lights. Students recommended switching to fluorescent lights for a savings of $800 a year. The school board accepted their proposal.

 The 6th and 8th graders worked together to complete an energy audit of Spring Wood Middle School in Hanover Park. The sixth graders got an introduction to energy by touring the school's HVAC system and the mechanical rooms of the school. The eighth graders came up with a simple and cost free energy saving recommendation. They asked teachers to keep doors closed to avoid letting hot air into unheated hallways.

 The St. Charles High School EnergyNet team produced a video to show the school's heating and mechanical systems.

Also, the utility bill team discovered that their city purchases electricity directly from vendors to sell to local customers. Students contacted St. Charles' utility project manager for information. City officials invited the entire team into their offices for a mini-lesson on how utilities are metered and why some buildings, including St. Charles High School, will have higher bills at certain times of the year. Students had the chance to see computers where billing information is calculated and stored.

The St. Charles High School officials also organized in-school field trips in order for students to collect data.

 At Streamwood High School, teams of students in physical science classes completed an audit of the school and presented recommendations to school administrators. They recommended:

• reducing heat loss by putting curtains in the hallway windows above the lockers
• replacing regular windows with fiberglass windows
• changing from T-12 to T-8 fluorescent bulbs
• having janitors turn off lights when they are done cleaning rooms
• shutting off computers after school hours

 Does your school have teachers who forget to turn off the lights when they leave their classrooms? Ticket them! That's the strategy adopted by the EnergyNet team at Viking Junior High School in Gurnee, who created Good and Bad tickets and issued them to teachers.

 At Walter Sundling Middle School in Palatine, EnergyNet team members created stickers and door hangers to raise energy awareness at school. In their presentation to the school board, the team recommended:

• changing from T-12 to T-8 fluorescent bulbs
• installing motion detectors
• turning off computers at the end of each day
• weatherstripping and caulking
• changing thermostat settings in heating and cooling seasons
• constructing a vestibule by the existing front door

 The Waterloo Middle School EnergyNet team made some interesting discoveries about energy use and their school environment. Students discovered that the school had indoor air quality problems with levels of CO² that exceeded the acceptable limits. Also, they discovered that much of their lighting did not meet Federal energy requirements or State lighting guidelines.

The Waterloo EnergyNet team made these recommendations to the school board:

• an introduction to EnergyNet
• a brief slide show depicting the variety of lighting problems in the school
• overhead transparencies showing data tables and graphs with the total types and numbers of fixtures and lamps in the school building

Two of the EnergyNet students at Waterloo used their knowledge from the project to create energy-related science fair projects. Both competed successfully at the State Exposition of the Illinois Junior Academy of Science.

 The EnergyNet team at West Aurora High School began their project by having honors physics students create a comprehensive thermal energy audit of their homes. Several students were so motivated by their discoveries that they elected to conduct a more comprehensive audit that included electrical uses.

The West Aurora EnergyNet team conducted a thermal energy audit for the Building Trades Project House which was built in cooperation with the Habitat for Humanity organization.

 The EnergyNet teacher at Whiteside Vocational Center in Sterling worked with the electronics teacher to implement the project in the classroom. Students discovered that there were no gas or electric meters on the building where they attended class. The team worked with ComEd to put in a temporary meter for one month to determine energy usage.