The Department of Environmental Protection Thursday announced the start of a free program to help schools in 15 Southcentral Pennsylvania counties better manage their energy and water usage and costs while preventing pollution.

DEP’s Southcentral region includes: Adams, Bedford, Berks, Blair, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Mifflin, Perry and York counties.

“This innovative program gives schools the tools to implement resource conservation strategies that save energy, reduce pollution and measure their effectiveness on a real-time basis,” DEP Secretary Mike Krancer said. “Schools already play a big role in making Pennsylvania a healthier, cleaner place to live and DEP is happy to provide this opportunity to do even more.”

The program will help schools establish Energy Star portfolio accounts, which can help track a school’s utility costs and usage and compare it to neighboring schools and the national average. Over time, this data analysis has the potential to find possible billing errors and identify opportunities for savings.

Training will be offered to school district personnel on how to manage their portfolio accounts.

Other program features include a monthly email sent to school districts, which will include custom reports of their buildings’ performance; notice of upcoming conservation or funding opportunities; and details about neighboring schools’ achievements or problems they have encountered.

Each school district in DEP’s Southcentral region will receive a letter about this program that will include an enrollment form. The form should be updated annually and re-submitted to DEP.

For more information on this program, call 717-705-4703.

6/4/2012