ICYMI: Chelmsford Enters Nationwide Energy Efficiency Competition

Mashail Arif spends a lot of time thinking about light bulbs and weather-tight windows and properly open heating vents.

She’s hoping that all that thinking and planning and crunching of numbers brings a bit of public recognition to Chelmsford by way of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Sixth Annual Energy Star Battle of the Buildings.

Arif has been tracking the electricity and gas usage of Chelmsford’s municipal buildings for some time; she enters info directly into an online tool called the Energy Star Portfolio Manager.

“I entered into the competition because we’re already tracking energy consumption, so why not enter the competition and see how we do against other buildings,” Arif explained.

The team and individual buildings with the largest percent reductions over a 12-month performance period will be declared winners, a press release from the EPA reads.

“Nationwide, more than 6,500 buildings of all types and sizes, and 125 teams nationwide are competing head to head to reduce their energy and water use,” according to the EPA press release. “The competition specifically targets wasted energy in commercial buildings and motivates organizations to improve energy efficiency, reduce harmful carbon pollution, and save money.”

According to the release, 124 buildings in New England are registered for the competition; 57 of those buildings are in Massachusetts and 22 of them are right in Chelmsford.

“I kind of expected other towns to jump in,” Arif said with a laugh.

Arif said that all of the town’s schools, municipal offices, fire stations, libraries and police station as well as the Department of Public Works building are being monitored for the competition. Really, the only town buildings that aren’t part of it are a few of the large garages, Arif said.

Last year, Chelmsford began implementing 26 energy-efficiency geared changes ranging from updating light bulbs at the schools to, in some cases, replacing heating systems with more efficient models. Arif said she’s already seen impressive energy reduction results from those changes.

She’s still crunching the numbers, but she said that it appears all of Chelmsford’s elementary schools reduced their gas and electricity usage by about 20 percent from Fiscal Year 2014 to Fiscal Year 2015.

In 2014, in fact, four of Chelmsford’s buildings -- Chelmsford High School, Harrington Elementary, the Town Offices and Byam Elementary -- achieved Energy Star status. That status, Arif explained, means that those buildings showed better energy efficiency than 75 percent of the nation’s similar sized and usage buildings.

Arif plans to collect a few more energy bills in 2015 and then pursue Energy Star status for other buildings this year.

“This is just for raising awareness among the residents and students,” Arif said, explaining Energy Star certified buildings receive a plaque to display. “It’s just a public recognition.”

As the town works toward being more energy-efficienty, Arif said there are a couple of things residents can do as they visit and utilize town buildings.

“The top two main energy consumption items in buildings are lighting and heating and cooling,” Arif said. “[Visitors can] make sure lights are off when they leave, teachers can make sure windows are closed during the winter and can close classroom doors during heating season.

“Little things like that can make a big difference.”