Hough and Rocky River high schools, identical one-year-old, 258,000-square-foot facilities in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools system, were recently evaluated and awarded the EPA's Energy Star certification signifying outstanding achievement in energy efficiency performance levels.

Hough earned an energy savings of 92 in the program and operates with 42 percent higher efficiency than the average high school.

To earn the Energy Star rating for the schools, CMS installed energy-efficient lighting and lighting controls, put Energy Star appliances in the kitchen, and installed energy-efficient boilers, rooftop HVAC units and tankless water heaters in the school. In addition, the schools were built with energy-efficient windows.

The new buildings are in keeping with the CMS goal of decreasing energy consumption system-wide by 20 percent by 2014. The district currently has 55 schools with Energy Star certification with a goal of five more by June of next year.

"By earning the Energy Star label," Bryan Steiner, CMS construction engineer, said, "CMS is showing that we are good stewards of tax-payer funds by keeping the day-to-day operating costs low. At the same time we are using less energy and keeping low greenhouse gas emissions – it's a win-win."

The EPA's Energy Star national building competition included 26 different types of commercial buildings across 33 states and the District of Columbia and measured energy performance from Sept. 1, 2010 through Aug. 31 of this year. Competitors tracked their building's monthly energy usage using an online tracking tool.

"Improving the energy efficiency of our nation's buildings is critical to protecting our environment," Jean Lupinacci, chief of the commercial and industrial branch of the Energy Star program, said. "From the boiler room to the board room, organizations are leading the way by making their buildings more efficient and earning EPA's Energy Star certification."