Case Study: Gresham-Barlow School District achieves $1.5M+ annual cost avoidance and a 97 ENERGY STAR rating with Brightly Software Energy Manager

Gresham-Barlow School District Saves Over $1.5 Million in Cost Avoidance Annually with Energy Manager™

Gresham-Barlow School District (Gresham, OR), serving 12,000 students across 20 aging schools, faced a critical budget challenge: energy and utilities were a third of facilities costs, and leadership set an aggressive goal to raise cost avoidance from 28% to beyond 50% and prove that energy management delivers real savings. Director of Facilities Terry Taylor was tasked with turning data and operations into measurable results across a small maintenance team and large district facilities.

The district implemented Brightly Energy Manager™ to aggregate utility data, benchmark performance, and tie meter and HVAC analytics to actionable maintenance and scheduling changes. That approach — combined with staff engagement and ENERGY STAR benchmarking — delivered sustained results: an average ENERGY STAR score of 97, 11 EPA ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year awards for energy management, and more than $1.5 million in annual cost avoidance (over $18 million avoided in 14 years), achieving roughly 52% cost avoidance.

Gresham-Barlow School District

Terry Taylor

Director of Facilities