Green Spotlight: Jose Saldivar

Let us introduce you to Jose Saldivar, a Strategic Energy Management (SEM) Intern who’s making a big difference in our local schools! In December 2018, Jose joined our team to work directly with Jackie Wilson – our Education Director, who doubles as the Bend-La Pine Schools Sustainability Coordinator – on energy conservation projects across the district.

Jose has been working hard to gather and create baseline data for all Bend-La Pine schools for the 2017/18 and 2018/19 school years. Going forward, this data can be compared year over year and the district will be able to track progress toward energy reduction goals.

His favorite part of the job has been experiencing the direct impact of energy-saving efforts, such as unplugging appliances over long holiday breaks, and updating exterior weather stripping at SEM schools in the program (there are six of them).

Jose said he’s really enjoyed learning about Energy Use Intensity (EUI) – a “score” that’s calculated by dividing the total energy consumed by a building in one year, by the total floor area of the building. EUI enables us to compare different sized buildings across the district, and determine how well (and how efficiently) a building is functioning.

Jose is currently enrolled at OSU Cascades in the Energy Systems Engineering Program, and plans to graduate in 2021. This internship program is supported by Energy Trust of Oregon.

He has three boys in the school district, and is also a recent graduate of Mount Bachelor’s Ski or Ride in 5 program. So look out for him in the schools — or on the slopes!

Thanks, Jose, for all the great work you do for TEC and for our community. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with you!