OXFORD — The energy savings projects completed by Siemens Industry Inc. in the Oxford Hills School District has been recognized as one of the top two energy efficient projects in New England.

Superintendent Rick Colpitts told the Board of Directors on Monday that the district was awarded a performance contract energy project honorable mention by the Association of Energy Engineers, New England region. There were only two awards given in New England.

The projects were recognized for attaining comprehensive energy efficiency solutions through creative financing. The award was presented at the association’s Waltham, Mass., headquarters on Feb. 1.

“We’re excited about this recognition,” Colpitts said.

The projects include a biomass boiler fueled by wood chips, solar panels on the roof to heat water for showers and bathrooms, a windmill at the athletic field to supplement the electricity and a photovoltaic system to generate electricity for water pumps.

The boiler was installed at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in late March 2011 and went online this winter. The 2,600-pound boiler is expected to save the district as much as $129,000 a year in fuel costs. School officials say all of the alternative energy features can be expanded in the future, if student population grows.

School officials said the projects will also reduce the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from traditional fossil fuel power plants by about two million pounds per year.

In addition to the boiler, solar panels, windmill and photovoltaic power system, the work by Siemens included upgrading energy control systems; energy-efficient, light-emitting-diode lighting in the parking lot; an interactive “green touch screen” computer at the high school to show students, faculty and public what the district is doing to conserve energy; and a new ventilation control at Oxford Hills Middle School in Paris that is based on the number of people in the room or detected carbon monoxide levels.

Siemens, a global provider of energy and environmental solutions with offices in Scarborough, developed the project for the school district and guarantees savings in energy costs in its contract with the district.

Tom Seekins of Seimens said the application, which he submitted, was cited by the group of engineers who were judging them because the district’s project went beyond just energy savings and went into renewable initiatives.

“That’s what really caught their eyes,” he said.

Applications came from all areas across New England, including schools, colleges, housing and other projects.

Seekins said the only reason the school district did not win the top honor was because of the sheer size and cost of the other winner, a massive Housing Authority project in Connecticut that cost millions of dollars.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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