Seeing Eye-to-Eye about Energy Efficiency SSCAC Meets ESG at SSD

SSCAC Meets ESG at SSD 

Sayville Assistant Superintendent for Business Mr. John Belmonte invited a specific group of students from the Sayville High School Chapter of SSCAC (Suffolk Student Climate Action Committee) to meet with ESG (Energy Systems Group), the award-winning energy-services provider that has been contracted by the Sayville School District to perform energy- saving building improvements.  

As volunteers for the SSCAC, these students have expressed their keen awareness of environmental issues impacting our planet. They have been spreading the word at a variety of venues about taking action right now to save the earth. Their goal is to achieve a net-zero energy consumption by the year 2030. The students have been quite vocal about climate-change solutions and have made strides in bringing awareness with their 100% renewable electricity campaign. 

In light of the SSCAC student’s concerns, Mr. Belmonte introduced the SSCAC students Ava Herrera, Olivia Davidson, Harrison Bench, Eric Stenzel, and Lilia Bartolotta to Michael Ryan and Michael Daskalakis of ESG who had prepared a presentation that highlighted many of Sayville School District’s cost-effective measures already in place as well as ongoing and future projects. The presentation also demonstrated that by making incremental improvements—incorporating energy efficiency changes over time—to the district buildings, Sayville is being fiscally responsible to its taxpayers, while reducing energy consumption. The students learned that this Energy Performance work is expected to further reduce the Districts energy consumption by approximately 30%. The carbon foot print reduction would be equivalent to: a reduction of 2,551 metric tons of CO2, 539 cars removed from the roadway or 66,111 trees planted.   

“It was a very well received presentation,” Mr. Belmonte said, “The students were great. They had fantastic questions.”

As a result of this first meeting, Mr. Belmonte hoped to expand the concept as a career-day-type opportunity with guest speakers from ESG, including professional and trade staff currently working in the energy industry. With so many future careers in energy efficiency management from planning, to engineering and building, many students might benefit and be inspired to pursue a future in this field.

“All in all,” Mr. Belmonte summarized the ESG presentation with the SSCAC volunteers, “It was a great opportunity and I think the students got a lot from it.”