Cranston schools set the bar for energy conservation

September 2, 2010
Cranston Herald
All text and photos by Jen Cowart

EAST HAS ENERGY: Cranston High School East is one of 12 school buildings in the city that has received the Energy Star Conservation award for 2010. Thanks to the school department’s work in energy conservation, many school buildings are receiving updates from $400,000 in federal funding.

All eyes are on the Cranston Public Schools energy program as the new school year begins.


Thanks to the work of the energy management program run by Karen Verrengia and carried out by the custodial staff across the district, CPS has been hailed as a leader in the area of energy conservation, since showing the district a cost savings of more than $2 million from the time the program began in 2006.

Cranston recently received word that 12 CPS buildings have gone through a rigorous qualification and selection process and are slated to receive the prestigious Energy Star Conservation award for 2010.

Those school and district buildings are: Chester W. Barrows, Edgewood Highland, Norwood Avenue, the William A. Briggs building, Sprague School, Edward S. Rhodes, Stone Hill, Daniel Waterman, Western Hills and Park View middle schools; as well as Cranston High Schools East and West.

The Energy Star standard certifies an energy-efficient facility and rates those buildings in the top 25 percent of all facilities nationally, based on the EPA’s National Energy Performance Rating system.

According to Verrengia, two buildings per year received the sought-after award in 2008 and 2009. At the time, the buildings were the first school buildings ever to qualify for the award in Rhode Island.

The buildings that received the awards at that time were Daniel D. Waterman, Chester Barrows and Edgewood Highland Elementary Schools.

“People across the country are tracking what we are doing here in Cranston and they want to know how we’re doing it so that they can do it in their districts too,” said Verrengia, noting that she frequently receives e-mails and phone calls asking for advice on energy management.

Verrengia herself was recently recognized with a merit award for her work in Cranston by the Environmental Protection Agency.

This past summer, six different school buildings across the city qualified for and received needed energy updates from more than $400,000 in federal stimulus money. The buildings are Western Hills Middle School, Cranston High School West, Hugh B. Bain Middle School, George J. Peters Elementary School, Glen Hills Elementary School and Hope Highlands Elementary School.

Some of the projects included lighting system retrofits, and the installation of energy efficient sensors, which regulate heat and electricity. Edward S. Rhodes Elementary School also received a lighting retrofit as part of a separate financing agreement with National Grid.

These updates will show immediate payback in the form of energy cost savings across the district.

In total, 16 buildings will be receiving lighting retrofits with two more on the horizon, utilizing a variety of financing options and grants from National Grid and HUD.

Verrengia noted that Building Operator Certification (BOC) training focuses heavily on energy star qualifications and tracks buildings to make sure they are in line with those qualifications.

“Everything they teach [in BOC] parallels everything I do and try to achieve,” said Verrengia.

Last year, Cranston hosted a Building Operator Certification training class in which several of the district’s building foremen participated along with building operators from outside of Cranston. Verrengia sat in on the trainings.

This year the Rhode Island Association of School Maintenance has asked Cranston to host a re-certification class.

In turn, National Grid has agreed to sponsor the class, which will be held at the Park Cinema. CPS is utilizing an agreement that the city has with the cinema, which allows them to use the cinema for free for events.

The course will take place on Friday, Oct. 29.

Cranston leads the way to green

Cranston Herald
July 15, 2010

Two Cranston residents were recognized individually for their work with the environment recently. Steven Stycos and Karen Verrengia each received a 2010 Environmental Merit Award in Boston.


According to the EPA, the merit awards recognize individuals and groups whose work has protected or improved the region’s environment in distinct ways.

The awards, which were established in 1970, were given out in conjunction with the fortieth anniversary of Earth Day.

“Today, on this milestone anniversary of Earth Day, I’d like to acknowledge and honor people, communities and businesses that have made significant strides in protecting New England’s health,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA New England.

Spalding noted, during ceremonies to honor the winners, that President Obama issued an Earth Day challenge to Americans to take action – in homes, in the community and in schools or businesses, to improve the environment.

“I really didn’t understand just how big this was,” said Verrengia, who is the Energy Manager for the Cranston Public Schools. “I almost didn’t go, then at the last minute, I called and I went. I’m so glad I did.”

There were several different types of awards given, including the individual merit awards that Stycos and Verrengia received, as well as group awards and lifetime awards.

Although Stycos is known for his work on the Cranston School Committee, his other passions include protecting the Pawtuxet River and supporting Rhode Island Farmers.

He currently serves as the president of the West Bay Land Trust. He created and maintains a network of walking trails and offers canoe rides and nature walks to the public. He founded Friends of the Pawtuxet in 1982 and is still a leader of the organization. He also helped to launch and still coordinates the Pawtuxet Village Farmer’s Market.

Stycos is responsible for connecting the Cranston Public Schools with local farmers so that students purchasing school lunches are eating locally produced, farm-fresh foods during the school year.

“The Farmer’s Market is held at Rhodes-on-the-Pawtuxet each weekend from May to November and has been going on for eight years,” he explained.

Stycos said that, like Verrengia, he was surprised to find out that he’d been nominated for an award.

“It was fun though, to see what other people [receiving awards] were doing. They were all doing their little piece and there were some very creative ideas,” he said.

Stycos said that he was pleased to see Verrengia recognized for her work. As the CPS Energy Manager, Verrengia has worked tirelessly to make the school buildings more energy efficient, and started from scratch when she took on the job.

“I was glad to see Karen get recognized,” he said. “It was a bit of a push to get the district to recognize the energy issues, but now it’s really taken off.” Verrengia agreed.

“There are people all around the country tracking us now. People are really starting to look and pay attention not just to our program, but to the environment. It took two to three generations to get into this and now it’ll take 10 years or more to pick up the pieces,” she said.

Verrengia was nominated by someone she’d never even met from the EPA of Rhode Island. Stycos was nominated by Peyton Flemming, with whom he started the Farmer’s Market.

“He didn’t tell me he was nominating me, but he kept calling and asking for my wife. I didn’t know why though, until I got the e-mail,” he said.

Verrengia said it was quite the experience attending the event, which was held in Faneuil Hall in Boston.

“It was all very inspiring: the building, the history, the people,” she said.

Verrengia and Stycos said that at the ceremony itself, each person was individually recognized and the letters of nomination were read.

“It was exciting to see all the letters that were written,” Verrengia said. “When you’re working and doing your work every day, it seems so incidental. Or, if you ask to do something bigger, it seems like nickels and dimes [that would be saved] but it really does add up.”