Des Moines Public Schools

Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS) is a public school district in Iowa. DMPS promoted energy efficiency awareness to students, staff, and the community and has continued its longstanding commitment to sustainability by implementing ENERGY STAR® best practices for comprehensive energy management. Key 2023 accomplishments include:

• Achieving ENERGY STAR certification at 34 schools and increasing the district average ENERGY STAR score to 74.9.
• Saving more than $23 million in energy costs since 2008, including nearly $700,000 in 2023 alone, and lowering the average energy cost per square foot for the school district to $0.82 in 2023, compared with a national average of $1.03 per square foot.
• Leading the City of Des Moines to become the second-ranked mid-sized city on EPA’s 2023 ENERGY STAR Top Mid-Sized Cities list.
• Using on-site solar energy at Jefferson Elementary, which has reduced utility expenditures by $50,000 and saved more than 900,000 pounds of CO2 emissions since July 2021.
• Promoting energy practices and ENERGY STAR to the community through Energy Report Cards delivered to nearly 5,000 staff and interested parties across the country.
• Investing more than $1 million in building automation systems and conducting retro-commissioning projects at 16 facilities.