Energy Savings in a Box

Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 8:00 am

Learning kit a hit with Colorado and New Mexico kids and teachers

How many sixth graders know when and how to change the furnace filter at home? (And why it’s important?) Or how much water is used each time someone flushes the toilet? Or takes a shower?

And how much energy is required to heat that water to 120 degrees for a two-minute shower – both before and after the installation of a low-flow showerhead?

Now, thanks to the new “Living Wise” conservation learning effort from Xcel Energy’s School Education Kits program, students in New Mexico and Colorado are thinking about how they consume energy and other resources, and then doing something about it, said Crystal Manik, associate product portfolio manager in Marketing. The kits contain project descriptions and devices that kids take home to help their families save energy and money.

Manik worked with Marketing team members to provide nearly 6,000 of the learning kits to teachers and middle-school students in New Mexico in 2008, with plans to distribute more than 3,000 kits in the state this coming fall.

Additionally, 15,000 kits are being provided to Colorado students this spring and another 15,000 in 2010 as part of the company’s Demand Side Management Biennial Plan in that state. There are plans to file for a similar company program with Minnesota regulators as well, Manik said.

The Living Wise kits – accompanied by teacher guides and workbooks for students – feature a wealth of materials, including a digital water/air thermometer, a “furnace whistle” to signal if the filter needs changing, a low-flow showerhead, a kitchen faucet aerator, tablets to detect toilet leaks, two compact fluorescent lights, an energy-efficient night light, a variety of classroom and home educational materials, and a parent comment card for feedback.

“Students literally take what they’ve learned home and apply it to their daily lives,” Manik said. “Not only that, but they share their energy wisdom and devices with parents and siblings, and help the family manage energy use more knowledgeably.”

Manik sees the program as education and training for current and future energy consumers – something that kids will take with them into adulthood when they are householders – just as she did when a foresighted teacher in her rural South Dakota one-room schoolhouse taught Manik and her classmates about energy conservation.

“My early conservation lessons definitely stuck with me, and resonate with me today, which is one reason why I’m excited to be involved in this program,” Manik said. “It’s important to educate future energy users.”

Product developers Ralph Dickinson and Anne Kraft worked to develop the kits, which are assembled and distributed with the help of a third-party vendor, who also targets the appropriate classrooms within Xcel Energy’s service area.

“The comments from New Mexico students, teachers and parents have been extremely positive so far,” Manik said about the program, which was launched in that state last fall.

A sample letter from a sixth-grade teacher in Dexter, N.M., “pretty much says it all,” Manik said.

“Dear Xcel Energy: The Dexter Middle School sixth-grade students and I would like to extend a great big thank you to your company. My students were so excited to take their Living Wise kits home to use that they couldn’t wait until Friday, so I passed them out early…

“The Living Wise program has been an exceptional one for my students, who are mostly low-income…These sixth graders learned and applied many of the good habits that are reiterated time and again in the student guide and workbook…

“I anticipate that they will continue to find ways to conserve our precious resources by changing bad habits into good ones,” she continued. “They came back to school with stories about what their parents said and did while they installed items in the kit.”

Another teacher from Roswell, N.M., wrote: “I am writing to express my gratitude and appreciation for the wonderful program you have made available to us. My fifth-grade students were especially excited to receive and install their Living Wise kits. It was fantastic to see their enthusiasm and excitement about working with their families to make a difference.”

Manik summed up the benefits: “Living Wise is an educational program that has a direct impact on energy efficiency and conservation. It helps build energy awareness in children and can affect customers at all income levels and ages. It’s truly an investment in the future, with a payoff that benefits everyone.”

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