Pinellas County Schools

Pinellas County Schools (PCS) is a public school district in Florida. PCS has a long-standing commitment to preventing energy waste, optimizing building and comfort systems, and creating a culture of sustainability as demonstrated by earning ENERGY STAR® certification. Key 2023 accomplishments include:

• Benchmarking energy, water, and waste for 139 buildings, and achieving ENERGY STAR certification at 59 schools.
• Saving more than 179 million kBtu of electricity and more than 343,000 therms of natural gas, for a total cost avoidance of more than $8.3 million annually and more than $56 million since 2015.
• Upgrading food service and other equipment with 185 ENERGY STAR certified products.
• Building a new primary center for professional development that is estimated to produce more solar each year than it consumes and continuing to use a 3.5-MW solar plus storage microgrid at John Hopkins Middle School as a shelter for special needs during emergencies.
• Sustaining an energy incentive program that allows schools to earn discretionary dollars based on their performance on energy audits.
• Incorporating 20 electric school buses into its fleet of 212.
• Promoting ENERGY STAR initiatives to students and the surrounding community, reaching more than 900,000 stakeholders.