Energy Management Department

"Conserving energy today will lead to a brighter future for our students tomorrow"

Contact us

Jaime Barboza, Manager

Phone: (956) 354-2061
Fax: (956) 354-3020

Address: 800 S. Steward Rd., San Juan, 78589

Mission Statement

The Department of Energy is committed to systematically control and reduce the cost of utilities; project future utility costs and select better rates within electric service providers (ESP) in deregulated markets; and plan for replacement of inefficient equipment including building automation control systems.

Vision Statement

The Department of Energy is dedicated to the efficiency of energy use in the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District. This is primarily accomplished by using our automated control system. By monitoring the automated control system, labor requirements are reduced and prompt responses to problems are facilitated. Building utility is tracked and discrepancies are investigated to maximize the reduction in energy consumption, utility, and fuel costs without sacrificing human comfort and safety.

The Department of Energy objectives are:

Work toward achieving a cost avoidance on energy usage
Focus on cost-effective operations and on timely support to schools
Effectively identify inefficient equipment and acquire with high-energy- efficient ratio (EER) replacements
Effectively control utility waste
Plan and forecast future consumption of utilities
Keep abreast of all innovations that can reduce energy usage in schools
Work with building principals and committees to determine ways to reduce energy consumption
Make changes to school cooling plants that will reduce the use of energy
Keep track of District energy consumption
Communicate total cost avoidance to staff and the public

Staff

Jaime Barboza

Jaime Barboza, Energy Manager

Jaime was born and raised in San Juan, Texas and is a proud product of PSJA ISD, Class of 1985. Mr. Barboza has been serving PSJA ISD for over 30 years. After spending the first 14 years of service as the Varsity Head Tennis Coach for PSJA High and teaching Social Studies he decided to become an Administrator. His first administrative position was the Director for the Textbook Department in 2004. After four years, Jaime decided to join the District's new Energy Education Department which was geared to help educate the staff on Energy Conservation. Mr. Barboza currently oversees the Department of Energy for the last eight years and has helped the district save over $17 million dollars. His responsibilities include overseeing all the Districts building automation systems, auditing all utilities, and educating the district on conservation methods.

Jaime attended Pan American University and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Social Studies 1990.

Jaime has numerous certifications in Energy Management and Building Automation Systems.

Mr. Barboza has been married to Nori Barboza for 28 years and have three amazing daughters: Klarissa and twins Andrea and Ashley. He also has 5 wonderful grandchildren: Autumn, Kassidy, Lincoln, Penelope, and Maverick.

His favorite leadership quote is: "Conserving energy today will lead to a brighter future for our students tomorrow".

Julissa Muñoz, Secretary

Rene Molina, Services Technician/Operator

Ricardo Ramos, HVAC Lead Technician

Jorge Rodriguez, Test & Balance Technician

Forms & Links

Air Condition Request

AC Requests are to be submitted online through SchoolDude

Please consider the following when submitting an AC Request:
- Is the request reasonable?
- Does it follow District Conservation Efforts? If it doesn’t will it be accepted or denied?
- Is my HVAC request submitted within (24 hours) time frame before a scheduled event? Phone requests are not permitted.
- The request should include the following:
Name of building

Location eg. Address or Rm. #

Title of Event

Date

Time

Number of participants

Signature of Approval by Principal, Director or Designee as per SchoolDude access list.

Note: Not all employees have permission to request AC through SchoolDude. Please contact your campus secretary or Department of Energy for additional information if needed.

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Vampire Hours

Vampire Hours

Q: WHY DO WE HAVE TO UNPLUG OUR EQUIPMENT?
A: The answer is Vampire Power.

Q: What is Vampire Power?
A: Vampire Power is the energy consumed by an item when it is off but still plugged into the wall receptacle. Everyday we take for granted the energy we consume by items we leave plugged into the wall even if we don’t use it. Day after day we hear about the green movement or energy conservation but pay no attention to it. Some of us may be geared to do our best to conserve but with life’s busy schedule sometimes we feel we just don’t have the time.

Here are some examples of how much Vampire Power our everyday household or workplace items consume when off but still plugged in:

Product Average Watts
Mobile phone charger 1.0
17” LCD Flat Monitor 1.5
17” CRT Monitor (Big TV type) 2.0
Laptop 9.0
Desktop Tower 3.0
Inkjet Printer 1.3
Laser Printer 1.6
Computer Speakers 1.8
Portable Stereo 1.7
Television CRT type 3.0
Television Big Screen 7.0
DVD/VCR 5.0

To understand what exactly we are talking about when it comes to money, let’s do a small calculation using some of the items above. Let’s say we have one computer system in our classroom, or at home, and you just turned it off for half a day but it is still plugged in. What are they consuming?

First, we have to calculate cost for each item then add them together.
Desktop: 3.0 watts, Flat Monitor: 1.5 watts, Inkjet Printer: 1.3 watts, and Speakers: 1.8 watts
3.0 x 12 hours/day x 30 days/month = 1080 watts/1000 = 1.08 kwh x $0.10 = $0.108/month
1.5 x 12 hours/day x 30 days/month = 540 watts/1000 = 0.54 kwh x $0.10 = $0.054/month
1.3 x 12 hours/day x 30 days/month = 468 watts/1000 = 0.468 kwh x $0.10 = $0.0468/month
1.8 x 12 hours/day x 30 days/month = 648 watts/1000 = 0.648 kwh x $0.10 = $0.0648/month

So our total cost for our computer system is only $0.2736 a month which won’t break the bank, but if we calculate the cost for our entire district we are looking at $3556.80/month for approximately 13,000 systems. That same amount comes to approximately $42,681.60 a year by not unplugging the system. Imagine the cost for the same system but actually left on all day. When we see it in this perspective we should understand why we should unplug our items during times when we won’t be using them. I hope this sheds some light on what Vampire Power can consume.

Thank you,
Jaime Barboza
Energy Manager

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