The City School District Of New Rochelle Presented With $70,678 Check.

New Rochelle, N.Y. March 3, 2025 – The City School District of New Rochelle Green Schools Committee has accepted a $70,678 GridRewards check in recognition of the school district’s leadership in reducing energy use across school buildings during utility-called Demand Response events. The check was presented at a celebration at the New Rochelle High School Library on Wednesday, February 26, where they were joined by representatives of Sustainable Westchester, which delivers climate solutions to our region, and Logical Buildings, an award-winning climate technology provider.

Logical Buildings’ SmartKit AI technology alerted the facilities staff of key peak energy demand hours during the summer of 2024, and the school district reduced energy usage at 10 schools in the district by approximately 863 kW, a 22.8% increase in kW reduction from 2023. This reduction helped divert the need to power up fossil fuel peaker power plants, which are extremely costly to operate and highly polluting. New Rochelle was the first school district in New York to participate in Logical Buildings’ Demand Response Program, starting in 2023.

City School District of New Rochelle Director of Facilities Keith W. Watkins, CDF joined students in accepting the $70,678 rebate presented by Lauren Brois, Director of Building Decarbonization at Sustainable Westchester, and David Klatt, COO of Logical Buildings.

“I am honored and thrilled about the collaboration with our partners, Sustainable Westchester and Logical Buildings, to not only receive funds that will benefit our students but also to have a positive impact on the environment and our community,” said Keith W. Watkins, CDF, Director of Facilities, City School District of New Rochelle. “I’m looking forward to a wonderful future and watching this program grow and to make an even bigger impact on our future students.”

“This innovative program enables us to take action – individually or as an institution – to reduce our energy usage and dependence on dirty peaker power plants while also earning money,” said City of New Rochelle Council Member Sara Kaye. “I want to commend the students, faculty and administrators for their fantastic work, because we can all benefit by not having to fire up backup power plants in a heatwave. I’m so thrilled to be here to celebrate everyone who made this day possible.”

Members of the City of New Rochelle High School’s Green Club spoke at the celebration, showcasing the passion and leadership of young people in addressing climate and energy challenges. The students have been instrumental in educating parents and residents about the GridRewards program, achieving the highest number of sign-ups among all Westchester towns. One of the club’s co-presidents who joined the Green Club because she believes it is “important for other students my age to understand the impact humans have on the planet and everything that lives on it,” highlighted how participation in GridRewards opened her eyes to the power of small actions. She noted that “by simply turning off lights or not using electricity during peak hours, households can make a significant difference so power plants do not have to work as hard.” The club’s other co-president echoed the broader importance of collective action stating, “The GridRewards program is an excellent example of a belief I hold as a young environmentalist: that if we all strive to be just a little more conscious of our impact, we can improve the lives of everyone around us, so that we all benefit.”

A total of 10 schools were activated on the platform in 2024: Albert Leonard Middle School, Columbus Elementary School, Daniel Webster Elementary School, George M. Davis Elementary School, Henry Barnard School, Isaac E. Young Middle School, Jefferson Elementary School, New Rochelle High School, Trinity Elementary School and William B. Ward Elementary School.

The program was initiated by the City School District Facilities Department in support of one of the Green Schools Committee’s priorities of developing a comprehensive utility management program that maximizes conservation of natural resources. The district implemented simple measures, like shifting buildings’ cooling schedules and temperature setpoints to reduce energy at key times, and the program remarkably had limited to no impact on students’ and staff members’ comfort levels.

The successful partnership began in 2023 when five schools within the District activated Logical Buildings’ SmartKit AI platform, generating over $23,000 in demand response revenue and achieving a total portfolio reduction of ~700 kW by participating in two energy reduction events in July 2023. The 2024 rebate was a 195% increase over 2023.

Optimizing heating and cooling is a major energy challenge for school districts like New Rochelle. As the planet warms at an accelerating pace, buildings—which contribute nearly 40% of global carbon dioxide emissions—face growing pressure to enhance their sustainability efforts.

“Our collaboration with Logical Buildings has allowed Sustainable Westchester to deliver innovative energy solutions to residents, businesses, and municipalities across Westchester County. The City School District of New Rochelle was an early adopter of demand response and has reaped the benefits of leveraging smart energy technology to lower emissions in environmental justice communities while unlocking significant cost savings that directly benefit students and educators,” said Lauren Brois, Director of Building Decarbonization at Sustainable Westchester. “This partnership with the City School District of New Rochelle is a great example of the impact, and savings, that can come from utilizing demand response and we’re looking forward to working with other school districts in the county to launch similar programs.”

“If you add up the electricity reduction across all of the City School District of New Rochelle buildings that participated last summer, they add up to almost a megawatt of electricity reduction. That is equivalent to taking 1,000 homes off the electric grid during peak hours when the grid is using the most carbon,” said David Klatt, President of Logical Buildings. “Congratulations to the City School District of New Rochelle, the District’s Facilities team, and Sustainable Westchester on this amazing accomplishment.”

Sustainable Westchester regularly partners with Logical Buildings to offer technology-driven energy savings programs to Westchester County municipalities, residents, and businesses. For example, GridRewards pays consumers to lower their energy consumption during periods of extremely hot weather when people typically crank their air conditioners and electricity demand spikes. More than 4,500 residents and businesses in Westchester County have signed up for GridRewards to date, and on average, each residential user received a direct cash payment of $80, with the top commercial users earning more than $70,000. Users’ combined efforts reduced energy consumption by 7MW, enough electricity to instantaneously power 25,000 homes. Con Edison-serviced municipalities, businesses, and residents are all eligible to participate in GridRewards.

School districts interested in learning more about partnerships with Sustainable Westchester and Logical Buildings can contact Lauren Brois, Director of Building Decarbonization at Sustainable Westchester at [email protected] or 914-242-4725, ext 122.

Front Row: David Klatt, Logical Buildings President; Guadalupe Flores, NRHS Student; Mindy Leblanc, NRHS Student; Kaitlyn Thomas, NRHS Student; Emilia Jimenez, NRHS Student; Ruby Figueroa, NRHS Student; Keith Watkins, CSDNR Facilities Director; Lauren Brois, Sustainable Westchester Director of Building Decarbonization.

Back Row: Paul Anthony Presendieu, New Rochelle Ecology and Natural Resources Advisory Committee; Makeda Lewis, CSDNR BOE Trustee; Sara Kaye, New Rochelle City Council Member; Mia Baudry, CSDNR Sustainability and Environmental Coordinator; Meilisa Arlt, CSDNR Purchasing Agent; Kim Nieves, Jefferson Elementary School Principal; Carmen Glenn, NRHS Science teacher; Nick Sioufas, City of New Rochelle Grants Specialist.

About Sustainable Westchester
Sustainable Westchester delivers climate solutions to the governments, businesses, organizations, and people of Westchester County. Through its innovative programming, extensive relationships, and effective advocacy, Sustainable Westchester has been at the forefront of regional and statewide efforts to achieve a clean energy transition, conserve natural resources, promote environmental justice, and help member communities become more prosperous, healthy, resilient, and equitable. For more about the organization and its activities, please visit https://sustainablewestchester.org/.

About Logical Buildings
Logical Buildings is an industry-leading sustainability, smart building, and virtual powerplant software and solutions provider for the built world. Our revolutionary ESG technologies combat climate change by empowering residential, commercial, and industrial energy users to earn money, enhance building health and reduce carbon footprint, all from within user-friendly, award-winning mobile apps. Founded in 2012, the company now operates in major national urban markets, such as New York, Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Camden, Chicago, Miami, and more. To learn more, visit logicalbuildings.com and follow Logical Buildings on LinkedIn.

About the City School District of New Rochelle
With nearly 10,000 students in 10 schools, the City School District of New Rochelle, through an active partnership amongst the community, parents, staff, and students, provides a high-quality and challenging education for every child in a safe, nurturing environment that embraces rich diversity and drives success. Resource Management is one of the CSDNR’s four strategic directions – where we maximize resources and identify operational efficiencies to provide and support the delivery of a high-quality education. Learn more here: nred.org