NORTH ANDOVER — The School Committee is looking at spending a lot of green to bring in a consultant to help them go green and save thousands in energy costs.

The committee will consider hiring Energy Education Inc., a consulting firm out of Texas, at its June 5 meeting. It would cost $208,000 a year for three years and requires the town to pay the $20,500 part-time salary of an energy manager plus $3,000 for travel costs for the energy manager and a one-time fee of $12,000 for software.

The company guarantees the schools' energy savings will more than pay for the cost of the program. If not, the company reimburses the town for the difference in cost if savings don't cover the cost of the program.

School Committee member Charles Ormsby said it's more than just turning off lights and turning down thermostats.

"It's not just telling people to be careful," Ormsby said. "They do a complete energy audit."

Ormsby said the district is looking at saving close to $360,000 in the first year and more after that. The fees for the company will be taken out of the savings for the first three years. The School Department had budgeted $1.5 million for electricity and heating costs for the 2007-2008 school year for the school buildings as of January.

Ormsby said the program is about being conscious of energy use and efficiency, not making kids sit in the dark.

"We are not going to make kids sit in seats and shiver or carry candles down the hallway," he said.

He said one example of a way to conserve energy in a building is using limited lighting while cleaning during after-school hours, so that rooms are lit one at a time instead of an entire wing of a building. He said another place a school can save money is in the cafeteria — instead of employees turning on heat tables at 8 in the morning as they set up the kitchen, they can wait until 40 minutes before lunch so the tables have time to get hot, but don't sit there wasting energy.

The consultants also set up a program so energy use can be tracked in every building.

The Gloucester School District, which has been using the company's services since March 2005, saved over $600,000 in the first 21/2 years.

Gloucester Superintendent Christopher Farmer said the program has helped the district keep the buildings comfortable without using unnecessary energy.

"It's generally about good housekeeping," he said.

Farmer said one way the schools have saved is by planning ahead. If it is summer and air conditioning needs to be on in the building for activities, they concentrate the activities in one building so they only use a limited amount of air conditioning. He said the expertise the company brings is what has allowed the district to get the amount of savings it has.

"It's helping people to understand that we have more money to spend on things we really need if we are able to minimize our spending on energy," he said.

Jan Noel-Smith, director of public relations for Energy Education Inc., said a lot of the energy being wasted is behind the scenes, in places like ventilation and exhaust fans. She said a full audit is done to see how energy is used during the night, mornings, while school is in session and while the school is being used after school. The audit also includes holidays, summertime and weekends.

Noel-Smith said the plan extends from food service to athletic facilities to every classroom.

"Everybody is asked to control the energy under their power to use it when they need to, but make sure it is not wasted," she said.

Ormsby said hiring consultants is not the only thing the district is doing to save energy costs. He said the School Department has also identified 17 different things the district can do that will pay for themselves within about a year, including using energy efficient light bulbs and replacing the lights in Exit signs with LED lights. He said the savings made by that list won't be counted as savings coming from the consultants.

Ormsby called the changes a good step for the future and "long overdue."