"School districts are true leaders when it comes to energy efficiency," Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton said Monday. "Tight budgets demand it. I am proud that the leaders of the Albany School District have accepted the challenge to be better stewards of taxpayer dollars and of the environment."

According to the EPA, U.S. schools spend $6 billion a year on energy costs, more than they spend on textbooks and computers combined. Inefficient technologies and design rob them of an average of 20 percent of that energy purchased.

"The Albany School District gladly accepts the Lt. Governor's challenge to expand our energy conservation leadership in our community," said Albany School District Superintendent Steve Guenther. "We are proud of the work we have already done to increase lighting efficiency in our classrooms and look forward to saving the local taxpayer even more through our future efforts."

Albany School did a major lighting change in the school starting about a year and a half ago, by switching to higher efficiency light bulbs and updating some electrical fixtures.

Half as many bulbs were needed, and they are of a better quality, Guenther said.

To finance the project, the school district took out a short-term (three-year) loan of about $20,000.

A year after completing the project, the district has saved more than it borrowed, according to Guenther.

The idea to redo the school lighting came from the significant savings the district saw after lights in the gym were switched about five years ago. Energy cost savings covered the costs of that project in three years, Guenther said.

The school district tested the new bulbs in "demo rooms" first to evaluate their effect.

"(The bulbs) give off kind of a blue light, but once they were all in, nobody noticed," Guenther said.

The school also is trying to conserve energy by making small, but less trackable, changes, such as slowly converting from key to manual or motion detecting light switches, labeling switches with reminder stickers to turn off lights when not in use, and asking people to stay conscious of their energy use.

"It might not be quite as warm (at school) as it is at home," he said.

Lawton issued her Energy Star School Challenge in April 2008 as part of her Green Economy Agenda. The New Glarus school district is among those also taking the challenge.

The goal is to commit at least 100 new school districts, nearly 25 percent of all Wisconsin school districts, to reduce their energy costs by at least 10 percent.

Because of the huge savings from the lighting change, Guenther wasn't sure if the school could save another 10 percent. However, once assured their past efforts counted toward the 10 percent, the school accepted the challenge.

Participating schools agree to:

• Make a commitment to improve energy efficiency by 10 percent or more.

• Measure and track the energy performance of the district facilities where possible. Tools are available through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Energy Star program at no cost.

• Develop and implement a plan consistent with the EPA Energy Star Energy Management Guidelines to achieve energy savings.

• Educate staff and community members about energy efficiency.

Guenther hopes Albany school's next big jump in energy cost savings can come from two more projects if the school's April 7 referendum passes. Improving insulation in the roof would help save money in heating and electrical fan blowers, he said. The school also would be cooler during warm weather, he added.

By replacing an old steam boiler heat system with a more efficient water heat system, the school could see a "substantial improvement in energy efficiency as well as cost" he said.

By joining the Energy Star School Challenge, Albany School can become a community leader, Guenther said. Eventually, Albany will be able to become a focus school for energy savings, he added.

The school will be able to work with the most recent energy efficiency ideas and financial support information coming from the state.

Guenther said the school's energy projects also provide an extra opportunity to talk with students about energy and to integrate the projects into environment energy lessons.

Lt. Governor Lawton's office coordinates the Energy Star School Challenge, including management of a Web page with links to EPA trainings.

School districts ready to take the challenge should call Matt Dulak in the Office of the Lt. Governor at (608) 266-3516 or visit www.ltgov.wisconsin.gov and click on "Energy Star Schools Challenge" for more information.