Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Reducing Your Energy Use and Cost

  • By Amy Vigneux
  • 04/01/18

With budget cuts impacting schools across the nation, many campuses are searching for ways to stretch their dollars. Investing in renewable energy and products saves money in the long run. Not to mention, consuming energy unnecessarily can hurt your bottom line. Consider these easy ways to reduce your energy use.

Build with Efficiency in Mind

Entry doors in schools can leak both air and heat, contributing to significant energy loss. Specialized door assemblies and accessories are available to help combat these losses and improve a facility’s overall energy efficiency. Also, don’t forget about classroom doors! The simple addition of self-adhesive weather stripping can reduce energy losses and improve sound proofing.

Invest in Energy Efficient Locks

Believe it or not, smart locks connected to a power source can use a lot of energy. Think of all the doors in your building. How many are secured by electrified locks? Hardware manufacturers make locks that draw approximately 90 percent less power than other models, and they’re just as secure.

Install Self-Powered Door Controls

Door control devices are another unsuspecting energy user in school buildings. A small number of door operators are innovatively designed to generate and locally store energy, so they don’t even need a dedicated power source to open or close.

There are plenty of additional ways you can make your campus more energy efficient without a huge investment. Find a manufacturing partner that is invested in your success and safety; one with a wide range of progressive products, support tools and services to assist you; and, one that can help you make your campus more energy efficient, secure and sustainable.

This article originally appeared in the School Planning & Management April 2018 issue of Spaces4Learning.

About the Author

Amy Vigneux is director of Sustainable Building Solutions for ASSA ABLOY.

Featured

  • Fargo, N.D., Starts Construction on Consolidated Elementary School

    Fargo Public Schools in Fargo, N.D., recently announced the beginning of construction on a new elementary school, according to a news release. The district partnered with ICON Architectural Group and Kraus-Anderson Construction on the new Horace Mann Elementary School.

  • abstract illustration of school gym

    How the Gymnasium Can Serve as a Model for Learning Space Design

    Multipurpose gyms work because flexibility was built into the brief from the start, not retrofitted later. The same logic applies to academic spaces.

  • Doerr School of Sustainability Accelerator

    From Concrete Warehouse to Innovation Hub: Accelerating Sustainability at Stanford

    The transformation of a once windowless, concrete publishing warehouse into a sun-drenched center for global innovation began with a single, fundamental challenge: how to turn an industrial storage shell into a space built for human connection.

  • Can AI Help Build Stronger Communities in Student Housing?

    Student housing success is shifting from operational performance to student experience, with belonging now at the center. A recent 2025 report underscores a growing emphasis on student well-being, community, and engagement, signaling that expectations now extend beyond logistics to ensure students feel supported in their living environments. AI is enabling that shift by reducing administrative workload and giving teams more time to focus on meaningful student engagement.