SARATOGA, CA — A group of Bay Area high school students is working with small businesses to identify ways to cut energy and water costs, while helping owners navigate sustainability programs that can be difficult to access.
Students for Sustainable Enterprise, a youth-led organization co-founded by Saratoga high school student Shreyas Chatterjee, has worked with 17 South Bay businesses so far, identifying more than $105,000 in potential savings, roughly 600,000 kilowatt-hours in potential energy savings and more than 120 metric tons of potential avoided carbon dioxide emissions.
The project grew out of a conversation with a neighborhood garden center facing rising water costs, Chatterjee said.
"We realized that California offered useful sustainability programs, but many small businesses lacked the time or technical capacity to identify the right opportunities and complete the process," Chatterjee told Patch.
SSE reviews a business's utility history, equipment, operating schedules and site conditions before researching available utility and government programs. The students then compare the potential financial and environmental benefits of upgrades and provide practical recommendations.
"We've supported 17 South Bay businesses and identified more than $105,000 in potential savings," Chatterjee told Patch.
One example is Maker Nexus in Sunnyvale, where the students examined the building's energy demand separately from fabrication equipment and looked at ventilation, compressed air, standby power and HVAC schedules.
The group also considers practical obstacles that can prevent businesses from making upgrades, including upfront costs, physical layouts, customer access and equipment durability.
SSE's work is documented on its website and was also featured through the Rustic Pathways Young Climate Leaders Fellowship.
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