Students Show Adults How it’s Done: Saving Money Through Energy Awareness

The Awareness for Community Energy (ACE) Program pairs students and education in an unlikely way in order to accomplish great things in the field of energy conservation.

Strategic Energy Innovations (SEI), created the ACE program in response to a growing need for energy education in underserved markets. Through experience in the ACE program, SEI discovered that young people, education, and energy efficiency make a great combination, and a wonderful teaching tool.

SEI, established in 1997, is a non-profit organization serving California communities to empower under-served markets such as schools, small businesses, and multifamily and affordable housing to accomplish their energy efficiency goals. SEI designed the ACE program to serve three Marin County populations simultaneously in a unique partnership: senior citizens in affordable housing, small businesses, and elementary and high school students.

The highlight of the ACE program was the creation of a unique partnership between the students of Mary Silveira Elementary School and the senior citizens at the Martinelli House, a low-income senior housing facility in San Rafael. The objectives of this unique partnership were threefold. One: educating the students about energy efficiency and training them to be life-long environmental stewards and ambassadors of energy efficiency within their communities. Two: to teach senior citizens in affordable housing how to save money on their utility bills through energy conservation techniques. Three: the creation of a broader sense of community. The students met with the senior citizens regularly, linking two very different generations and, in several cases, creating life-altering relationships between the students and senior citizens.

One such relationship occurred between a learning disabled senior citizen at the Martinelli House, and a fifth grade student at Mary Silveira. The senior has difficulty writing and drawing. By working with the fifth grader, he produced posters depicting compact fluorescent lightbulbs and energy saving slogans. He was so proud of his work, he became the leader of the facility’s energy patrols, and was able to make a major contribution to the overall energy savings at the Martinelli House.

The ACE program has reached over 40 high school students, 15 elementary school students, 50 senior citizens and over 200 small businesses. The success of the ACE program has resulted in similar models being implemented in other parts of California and the country. As a direct result from the program, 12 high school and college students have gotten jobs within the energy efficiency industry. SEI is currently updating the ACE program to take environmental ethics into account and to support the students in seeing themselves as future environmental leaders.

SEI found that the key to making ACE successful was keeping the students involved and engaged in each step of the program. The students were easy to work with, open and eager to learn, and equally eager to teach their newfound knowledge to others. SEI found that they worked especially well in a mentoring relationship by pairing college students with high school seniors or elementary students with senior citizens. They learned how valuable they were in as teachers, and that others could benefit from what they had to say. They formed lasting bonds, in particular with the seniors at the Martinelli House. Most importantly, through these interactions the students created a real sense of community, uniting all parties involved in a common goal of efficiency and savings.

SEI is more than willing to share and help others create ACE’s successful model for student participation in energy efficiency programs. A program like ACE would be a wonderful resource for local governments, and there is a lot of information available to those interested in creating a similar program. SEI would also be willing to help facilitate similar programs.

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