NORTH ANDOVER - A group of students did some investigating and came up with ways their schools can go green while saving green.
The North Andover Legotrons is a team of boys who caught the attention of school officials when they proposed ways two schools can save thousands of dollars a year by using less electricity. The club consists of six boys who have an interest in robotics. Five of them are in the eighth grade. Four attend North Andover Middle School, one boy is home schooled and one is in the fourth grade at Kittredge Elementary School.
The group recently took on an ambitious challenge, which did not involve robots. They competed in the FIRST Lego League competition last month at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Their mission was to audit the North Andover Middle School and Kittredge Elementary School to see how the buildings waste energy.
They looked at the buildings' electric bills, met with School Department Business Administrator Steve Fortado, spoke to Kittredge Principal Richard Cushing, talked to custodians and walked around with a professional energy auditor.
They found lighting is the biggest waste of energy. They suggested replacing light fixtures with more energy-efficient models, installing occupancy sensors that would turn off the lights in vacant rooms and using exit signs with efficient LED (light emitting diode) bulbs inside.
"There were 96 exit signs in the middle school, so changing the light bulbs would be huge," said Sam Reti, a 14-year-old eighth-grader at North Andover Middle School.
Custodians told the boys that lights are sometimes left on for hours after people have left rooms.
The students embarked on the painstaking task of surveying the lights in the buildings.
"Some places, there would be five light bulbs in 10 feet. Kind of pointless," Reti said.
The Legotrons traveled to Rensselaer in Troy, N.Y., to show off their energy audit in a competition with students from around the Northeast. The team - supervised by parents Tom and Denise Greaves and Dave Pinzer - scored second place.
"They had a blast," Denise Greaves said of the boys. "They had fun. They did something positive."
The group brought their audit findings to the School Committee and school officials, who liked what they saw.
Interim Superintendent James Marini said he wants to meet with the students for a follow-up in the next few weeks to take a good look at their suggestions.
The North Andover Legotrons is a team of boys who caught the attention of school officials when they proposed ways two schools can save thousands of dollars a year by using less electricity. The club consists of six boys who have an interest in robotics. Five of them are in the eighth grade. Four attend North Andover Middle School, one boy is home schooled and one is in the fourth grade at Kittredge Elementary School.
The group recently took on an ambitious challenge, which did not involve robots. They competed in the FIRST Lego League competition last month at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Their mission was to audit the North Andover Middle School and Kittredge Elementary School to see how the buildings waste energy.
They looked at the buildings' electric bills, met with School Department Business Administrator Steve Fortado, spoke to Kittredge Principal Richard Cushing, talked to custodians and walked around with a professional energy auditor.
They found lighting is the biggest waste of energy. They suggested replacing light fixtures with more energy-efficient models, installing occupancy sensors that would turn off the lights in vacant rooms and using exit signs with efficient LED (light emitting diode) bulbs inside.
"There were 96 exit signs in the middle school, so changing the light bulbs would be huge," said Sam Reti, a 14-year-old eighth-grader at North Andover Middle School.
Custodians told the boys that lights are sometimes left on for hours after people have left rooms.
The students embarked on the painstaking task of surveying the lights in the buildings.
"Some places, there would be five light bulbs in 10 feet. Kind of pointless," Reti said.
The Legotrons traveled to Rensselaer in Troy, N.Y., to show off their energy audit in a competition with students from around the Northeast. The team - supervised by parents Tom and Denise Greaves and Dave Pinzer - scored second place.
"They had a blast," Denise Greaves said of the boys. "They had fun. They did something positive."
The group brought their audit findings to the School Committee and school officials, who liked what they saw.
Interim Superintendent James Marini said he wants to meet with the students for a follow-up in the next few weeks to take a good look at their suggestions.
"If it makes sense, we should implement it," he said.
The boys said they knew little about energy efficiency before the audit. Not only did they learn a few ways to help the environment and save money, they learned something a little more subtle.
"If a few people take initiative, they can help change the world for the better," said 14-year-old James Williams, who is home schooled.
"It feels good to actually make a difference in the community," said Subbarao Yalamanchili, a 13-year-old eighth-grader at North Andover Middle School. "I felt proud of myself."
Ways the schools can reduce energy consumption
* Use energy-efficient light bulbs
* Use LED exit signs
* Use occupancy sensors
Source: North Andover Legotrons
