Sustainability

Your Energy Management Department has been hard at work, saving money through a number of programs, technologies and strategies. As the world marches forward towards the necessary step of sustainability, Round Rock ISD has been treading cautiously on new technology.

Rain Water Harvesting – The diversion, capture and storage of rainwater (including condensate water from HVAC units) to decrease potable water use and improve soil quality. If you want rain water harvesting at your house take a look at what our local cities are sponsoring; the City of Round Rock is having their rain barrel sale and the City of Austin has multiple incentives, landscape tools, and timers to save water. Let’s take a look at Round Rock ISD’s ongoing efforts to conserve fresh water supplies.

The holding tanks at Elsa England can hold a total of 28,813 gallons while Chandler Oaks tanks can hold 10,600 gallons of water, and Linda Herrington Elementary tanks hold 7,000 gallons. Being able to save city water to irrigate district land is saving both money and community resources, both are important to Round Rock ISD.

Reclaimed water use – The City of Round Rock offers reclaimed water which is treated wastewater that is safe and suitable for irrigation and cooling purposes or replenishing of surface or groundwater. So watch for those purple pipes, valve boxes, or the purple stripe and do not drink from them…

For example Redbud Elementary irrigation is exclusively reclaimed water which costs $1.92 per kilogallon regardless of consumption or drought restrictions vs potable water (see tiered table below & use 1” meter column) rates per kilogallon. As the City of Round Rock expands their reuse system we will be adapting our irrigation systems for its use.

Round Rock ISD is situated in the recharge and contributing zone of the Edwards Aquifer and engages in improving water quality in multiple locations in the form of rain gardens, biofiltration ponds and water quality ponds. These are regulated by the TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) and local municipalities and maintained by the Round Rock ISD Environmental Department to the standards set forth by state agencies. Round Rock ISD has 53 filtration ponds and approximately 34 detention ponds/areas.

Can you find your campus water quality pond?

Solar – is the most abundant energy resource on earth, 173,000 Terawatts of solar energy continually strikes the Earth.  That’s more than 10,000 times the world’s total energy use. The first silicon solar cell, the precursor of all solar-powered devices, was built by Bell labs in 1954.

We’re proud of our solar use and continue to keep an eye on solar incentives.  Here at Round Rock ISD, we’ve found improved savings by gaining credits off of excess solar power by selling it back to the grid. Doing that has saved us untold dollars in ownership and maintenance of batteries while we wait for those prices to adjust.  Current battery pricing ranges from $8500 – $10,000 per unit and that’s without installation. PEC (Pedernales Electric Co-op) allows us to use power from the community solar program for further savings on equipment, carbon offsets and supports diversified power supplies. In 2022 we used 91,925 kWh of solar across the district, which saved us 65.1 Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide from the environment, or the amount of emissions from 2,660 propane cylinders used for home barbecues.

The Round Rock ISD Watt Watchers Challenge – Our Participating Energy Efficient Campuses saved us 52,036.13 KWH – which translates to:36.9 Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide or emissions from 40,801 pounds of coal burned or 4,485,827 smartphones charged.

It would take 610 tree seedlings or 43.6 acres of US Forest to offset those carbon emissions, had we not saved those in one holiday week!

Great job to our educational partners in lowering carbon emissions and increasing district savings!  Our partner Elementary Schools are (in alphabetical order) Berkman, Blackland, Double File, Laurel Mountain, Linda Herrington, Pond Springs, Purple Sage, Teravista and Union Hill. We appreciate you!!

Rebates, Credits and Incentives – Round Rock ISD is a large consumer of power, we’ve partnered with our utility providers in cost saving strategies to serve our students and staff while providing a comfortable environment.

Evaporation credits come from both the City of Round Rock and the City of Austin on our water cooled chiller towers, the design and heat transfer of these HVAC units dictate that evaporation is part of the normal cooling process.

The City of Austin evaporation credit was $63,903.91 in 2022, while our City of Round Rock credit is projected to be; $10,770.04 for an estimated total of $74,673.95. Chillers are incredible at saving energy, so much so that our newest elementary school, Redbud, was given a $37,492.76 rebate from Oncor (Direct) Energy for installing high-efficiency chillers. Our department also develops and continues to improve our design guidelines to allow us to save money on new construction, upgrades and maximize our rebate potential!

Curtailment credits – By agreeing to curtail energy use on high demand days (typically 2-3 events a year) helps to avoid rolling brownouts in the community. The district earned $44,989.01 in 2022. We’re committed to preserving the integrity of the power grid and thank you for a great job in helping us do so while saving the district money!

The FUSE Committee – Amazing on site recycling by Round Rock ISD Food services has already been featured in the Spotlight for their Styrogenie! We’re currently using this strategy in 3 schools where drivers return used trays daily.  1800 trays can be loaded into the unit at one time and after an 8 hour cycle at approximately 500° F the liquid resin hardens into 2 inch briquettes to be recycled into petroleum, preserving natural resources.  The program will soon be extended to other schools.

Our district campuses have also qualified for Energy Star in: 2016; Berkman ES, Brushy Creek ES, Canyon Vista MS, Cedar Ridge HS, Chandler Oaks ES, Double File ES, Fern Bluff ES, Gattis ES, Hernandez MS, Hopewell MS, Jollyville ES, Linda Herrington ES, Old Town ES, Purple Sage ES & Westwood HS. In 2018; Berkman ES, Blackland Prairie ES, Brushy Creek ES, Cactus Ranch ES, Caldwell Heights ES, Canyon Creek ES, Chandler Oaks ES, Deep Wood ES, Double File ES, Elsa England ES, Fern Bluff ES, Forest Creek ES, Forest North ES, Gattis ES, Great Oaks ES, Joe Lee Johnson ES, Jollyville ES, Laurel Mountain ES, Linda Herrington ES, Live Oak ES, Neysa Callison ES, Old Town ES, Purple Sage ES, Robertson ES, Patsy Sommer ES, Teravista ES, Xenia Voigt ES. In 2021; Anderson Mill ES, Berkman ES, Blackland Prairie ES, Bluebonnet ES, Brushy Creek ES, Cactus Ranch ES, Caldwell Heights ES, Callison ES, Chandler Oaks ES, Kathy Caraway ES, Deep Wood ES, Double File ES, Elsa England ES, Fern Bluff ES, Forest Creek ES, Fern Bluff ES, Forest Creek ES, Forest North ES, Gattis ES, Great Oaks ES, Joe Lee Johnson ES, Jollyville ES, Laurel Mountain ES, Linda Herrington ES, Old Town ES, Pond Springs ES, Purple Sage ES, Robertson ES, Patsy Sommer ES, Spicewood Springs ES, Teravista ES, Union Hill ES< Wells Branch ES, CD Fulkes MS, Canyon Vista MS, Cedar Valley MS, Chisholm Trail MS, Deerpark MS, Grisham MS, Hernandez MS, Hopewell MS, Pearson Ranch MS, Ridgeview MS, Walsh MS, Cedar Ridge HS, Stony Point HS, Westwood HS.

Future Projects & opportunities: 

LED Lighting change over – Our 2018 bond project had an exterior LED change outs (instead of halogen or florcents), currently we are 90% competition.

The aquatic center – Is equipped with a CHP (Combined Heat Power) system.  A natural gas engine turns turbines to generate electricity while heating the pool.  The CHP system will achieve a near net zero operations cost. The pool enclosures are passively ventilated structures designed around a custom modular PEMB structure, while the support and amenity spaces are conditioned structures supporting locker rooms, coaches’ offices, concessions, public restrooms, and other support services.  The buildings and pools are designed to be extremely energy efficient and incorporate a CHP system that is a prototype for the district’s efforts in optimizing energy performance. As Round Rock ISD keeps an eye on the future, this facility was built solar ready!

Styrofoam Recycling – Food services will be continuing to add additional campuses to this program.

Keeping all of that in mind Round Rock ISD is going to celebrate Earth Week!!! That’s right, our very first roll out of Earth Day celebrations – April 17 – 21, 2023.  Our full list of Earth Day resources.