North Sashabaw Elementary School

Clarkston Community Schools

5290 Maybee Rd., Clarkston, MI

Property classification: 721 - Elementary School

Property website: http://www.clarkston.k12.mi.us/education/school/school.php?sectionid=8


Sustainability Summary:

North Sashabaw Elementary:

  • has a recycling program
  • has a community garden
  • is working on becoming a Michigan Green school
  • uses low-flow water fixtures
  • uses T-8 or CFL lighting
  • uses native landscaping
  • has a power conservation policy

North Sashabaw is working on becoming a Michigan Green School with Emerald status. Currently the building is working hard to achieve Energy Star status and has initiated a recycling program. The future plans for energy conservation include educating students on renewable energy sources and working with staff and students so that they can be energy conscious both at school and at home. We will continue to make updates to lighting fixtures, HVAC controls, and other financially feasible building updates. A no cost project that we are planning to implement is to teach staff and students about minimal lighting. When adequate daylight is available through windows, not all of the lights in the classroom need to be on. We are planning to do load calculations so that we can emphasize the impact that minimal lighting can have on overall electrical consumption. There are several energy conservation projects that we are investigating, but funding these projects will be a challenge.

Property Description:

North Sashabaw Elementary School was built in 1965 with the last major renovation occurring in 1999.  The school is a one story building with approximately 55,732 square feet.  There are currently approximately 450 students with 33 teachers. 


Case Study:

The initiative North Sashabaw Elementary is most proud of thus far is our energy conservation policy. This year the following changes have been implemented: We have changed our light zones in our school. We had previously been using 16 and we have reduced that number to 10. The remaining 10 are on timers. We also added timers to the hot water tank, coffee machine, clean air filters, and drinking fountains. We replaced seals on refrigerators and milk coolers. We consolidated refrigerated items and turn off additional equipment on weekends. We added sensors to selected rooms. We systematically do preventative maintenance on our heating units. Finally, we are in the midst of adding door sweeper to reduce drafts and recaulking windows. Because of these efforts we have experienced a reduction of 6%.

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