TEC Equity Report Draft

1. Use ENERGY STAR® certified appliances
2. Use insulation to reduce AC use
3. Cut down on appliance use overall
4. Use energy-efficient settings if appliances have them
5. Use natural light as much as possible

1. Don’t let water run while doing activities like brushing your teeth
2. Take more showers than baths
3. Take shorter showers in general or use shower heads with low-pressure
4. Run washer with bigger loads rather than multiple smaller loads
5. Fix any leaky pipes

From this graph, we can see that the main energy consumed is space heating. By using products like insulation, the costs can be cut down

Something that I found interesting and knew something about my city was the fact that it had a predominantly white population before the mid-1900s. Interestingly enough, there would be an immigration wave that would increase the Hispanic population, mainly in Santa Ana. The presence of the Hispanic community, especially in the downtown area, would cause a white flight to more suburban areas, decreasing the white population to decrease in the city. This negatively affected the city as property values would decrease when compared to the neighboring cities.

Interestingly enough, however, the problem of gentrification is starting to rise. Projects like the OC Streetcar, which aim to promote businesses after its construction, are actively hurting small businesses by closing off access to those businesses.

The least efficient area that I saw was energy usage. Though the high usage during the summer could be explained by powering AC units, there are also other spikes that happen between months. For example, during March and December, there was an increase in electricity usage compared to the other months. An area I saw as most efficient was the amount spent on the gas bill. Though there are a couple of spikes here and there, overall it stays consistent.

A recommendation that I would give is to look for any leaks of any kind, especially for gas. This is because some of the schools in the district pay a greater amount of money on gas than the other schools, despite using less gas than them. Another recommendation I would give is one that I've mentioned previously but to update the infrastructure of the building, specifically the lighting as that tends to be an object that can be easily replaced for more efficient versions.

One of the greatest lack of efficiency I noticed, particularly in Energetic High School, is gas consumption. That high school is using rather a large amount of it when compared to other high schools in the district. The most likely cause of this could be the fact that this high school is larger than the other high schools as all the other data point to this fact, with Energetic HS having the greatest amount. I also noticed that Steven Sparker High School uses a higher amount of electricity, even more than Energetic High School.

A recommendation for Energetic High School is to install better insulation as most likely a majority of the gas usage is through heating. This will cut costs and allow for other renovations in the school. For Steven Sparker High School, I would recommend for them to update their lighting since they are using a high amount of kWh. Installing LED ENERGY-STAR certified will be more energy efficient than the light bulbs that they already have.

An energy career that piqued my interest was wastewater treatment plant and system operators. Their focus is operating water treatment plants and monitoring and maintaining the equipment and treatment process in wastewater. Some of their tasks could be sampling water for pathogens and recording operational data. Their job is essential, as it ensures that people have access to clean water.

There are a lot of careers in energy and water that don't get brought up to light as much, including this one. However, it is important to acknowledge the effort that people in these fields put into allowing people from around the state to live more comfortably than if these positions or technologies didn't exist. Like with wastewater treatment operators, they allow for districts to get more water rather than solely relying on groundwater and rivers.