An energy savings project at Palmerton Area High School is already paying dividends, district officials said during a school board workshop last week.

The project, completed in 2021, included window, exterior door and soffit replacements.

“The McClure company, which oversaw the project, calculated construction year savings for us and while we anticipated to see a reduction of 2,296 kilowatt-hours of electricity and 2,765 CCF (100 cubic feet) of natural gas, we saw an actual reduction of 11,146 kilowatt-hours and 9,166 CCF of natural gas,” Joe Faenza, Palmerton’s building and grounds manager, said.

In financial terms, the savings equated to $5,910, about $4,200 more than estimates provided to the district.

More than 150 windows were replaced in the guaranteed energy savings project that McClure said will save the district about $94,000 over 20 years.

The project, with Penn Builders Inc. as the contractor, was estimated to cost just shy of $1.7 million, but the district was awarded $250,000 through a Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority COVID-19 Restart Grant because the window replacement was halted by the pandemic.

Taking into account the grant and energy savings, the financial impact to the district was reduced to $1.35 million.

The energy conservation project also aims to achieve a 32-ton reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.