Case Study: Chicago Public Schools achieves $4M in energy cost savings and improved energy & utility visibility with Ameresco (AssetPlanner®)

Chicago public schools gains visibility into energy & sustainability of district buildings and utility expenses

Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the third-largest U.S. school district with a 64 million sq ft portfolio across nearly 1,100 buildings and roughly 2,700 monthly electricity and gas accounts, needed better visibility into building energy, sustainability performance, and utility expenses. Ameresco was engaged to provide a holistic energy management framework — including the AssetPlanner® Energy & Sustainability module, energy procurement, price risk management, and invoice validation — to consolidate utility data, correct billing errors, and provide financial oversight.

Ameresco implemented AssetPlanner® E&S to create a validated asset register, import and visualize all utility data, and manage procurement and invoice validation. As a result Ameresco uncovered over $257,000 in erroneous charges before payment, helped secure $1.25M in vendor credits for prior fees/deposits, identified $630,000 in unpaid valid charges (avoiding roughly $6,500/month in late payments), and contributed to a $4M (5.7%) reduction in energy spend from FY19 to FY20; all validated data is delivered monthly and available in AssetPlanner within a week.

Chicago Public Schools

Sandrine Schultz

Director of Energy and Sustainability