Detroit Public Schools, Marion Law Academy was Awarded for the 2023 Michigan Battle of the Buildings Competition in the Education Category
This year we celebrated 10 years of the Michigan Energy Summit and 10 years of amazing projects and energy efficiency initiatives! Over the past 10 years, we have had a total of 149 winners from 75 different organizations, representing 264 Michigan cities. Since the program's inception in 2014, our competitors have redirected over $100 million of utility costs back to their bottom line and avoided almost 550,000 metric tons of CO2e. Over 272 million square feet of Michigan commercial real estate competed against each other in 2023 in this biggest loser-styled energy competition. The 2023 Michigan Battle of the Buildings competitors saved $7.4 million in energy costs and avoided 47,178 metric tons of CO2e which is equivalent to the carbon sequestered by 55,514 acres of US forests in one year! This year we had 11 industry-specific category winners. We are so excited to announce the Detroit Public Schools Marion Law Academy as the 2023 Michigan Battle of the Buildings winner in the Education Category!
Detroit Public Schools Community District is Michigan’s largest public education system with 106 schools. The Marion Law Academy is a 125,000-square-foot school located on Cliff St. in Detroit and offers grades kindergarten through 8th grade for over 350 students. The teachers and staff at Marion cultivate an environment that nurtures and fosters academic excellence, personal growth, and community engagement. They empower critical thinking, caring leaders, and a passion for learning.
Marion Law Academy was experiencing nonfunctional equipment and inconsistent building temperatures. The building control system was not functional and unit ventilators were in various states of disrepair. Prior to this project, the school principal, Mrs. Fayeyundra Stewart, had expressed concerns about inconsistent classroom temperatures (too hot or too cold). To fix these issues, the school partnered with DTE and GDI Services, Inc. to retrocommission the controls.
The overall outcome was improved classroom comfort, an updated temperature control system, and energy savings of 337,290 kWh. The electric savings translates to 30% of the annual building electric usage and $40,661.54 saved annually. The material cost of the project was $30,437.03 and they received an incentive of $13,491.60 from the DTE Retro-Commissioning (RCx) Program. The DTE Retro-Commissioning Program has been implemented at other schools in the district resulting in total annual energy cost savings of $300,867.54 and $105,154.12 in DTE incentive checks back to DPSCD.
The Division of Operations - Facilities Department aims to provide safe and clean schools for the students and staff, a high level of support, and to promote operations that are economically efficient, effective, and sustainable. Using energy directly impacts the district's bottom line which affects financial sustainability, student achievement, and community well-being. Providing a comfortable environment with lighting, sound, and air quality fosters a successful learning and teaching environment. Kendal Kuneman, Energy & Sustainability Consultant on the project stated, “Not only does the school environment affect learning outcomes, but it also affects student health. When our students are healthier, our communities are healthier.”
In addition to participating in the DTE Retro-Commissioning program to improve comfort and efficiency, Detroit Public Schools Community District is developing a Sustainability Management Plan (SMP). As the plan is developed, they are concurrently implementing best practices in green and sustainable school management.
We were excited to celebrate Detroit Public Schools' accomplishments in energy efficiency at our annual Michigan Energy Summit on May 8, 2024 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where they were awarded for their overall energy reduction of 17.61%.