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Last updated on Wednesday, April 29, 2015
(BLOOMINGTON) - Leaders of the Monroe County Energy Challenge are pleased to announce that their efforts to win the $5 million Georgetown University Energy Prize will receive a boost from the State of Indiana’s Office of Energy Development (OED) in the form of a Community Conservation Challenge Grant for just under $60,000.
"This is just great news," said Jason Bletzinger, assistant superintendent of the Richland-Bean Blossom School Corporation (RBBSC), one of the participating agencies in the Monroe County Energy Challenge. "We want our students to understand first-hand that they can play a part in this competition, and this grant will help us accomplish that."
The funds will be used to install high-efficiency, light-emitting diode (LED) lighting and motion sensors in facilities owned by the City of Bloomington, Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) and RBBSC.
"The MCEC is a broad coalition of multiple local entities, and we wanted this grant to represent that," said Jacqui Bauer of the City of Bloomington. "The state's investment will help us take our first big steps as a group toward increased energy efficiency in facilities across the community."
RBBSC will use the funds to install motion sensors in 35 classrooms at Edgewood Primary School.
"Installing these in classrooms will encourage our students and faculty to become more energy-conscious," said Bletzinger.
The City of Bloomington will use the funds to upgrade lights in the Seventh and Walnut Parking Garage and Miller-Showers Park from high-usage metal-halide lights to super-efficient LEDs. The MCCSC likewise will install lighting controls, such as motion sensors, at Bloomington South High School.
In all, the projects funded by the grant are expected to pay for themselves in just over three years.
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