Los Angeles district strives to cut energy cuts

From The Los Angeles Times: A 3-year-old program in the Los Angeles Unified School Districthas been steadily carving away at future water and electricity costs for the 14,000 buildings in the system. By 2013, the district wants to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and its energy and water use by 10 percent from 2007 levels. It also will install 50 megawatts of solar photovoltaic arrays, a move that could save the district more than $20 million annually on electricity. In March, hundreds of decades-old buses will be upgraded to less-polluting, more energy-efficient propane models. Eight of a planned 250 schools will have solar power installations. Still others will be outfitted with "smart" irrigation systems to reduce the millions of gallons of imported water the district guzzles each day, more than half of which is used for outdoor watering.