It’s not easy going green.

But Orcas School is getting a little financial help in its quest to become more energy efficient.

Orcas was one of 59 school districts in Washington state to receive almost $17 million for energy improvements. Superintendent Barbara Kline says the district will use to it repair some of the buildings’ plumbing, HVAC, and lighting.

“It will only pay for part of it,” Kline said. “But $150,000 is a good thing. We are very happy to have it.”

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction energy grant program is funded by the state Legislature. To qualify for the funds, districts were required to conduct audits of the school facilities to identify projects that could demonstrate guaranteed energy savings. The districts also had to show what local financial resources they had for the project.

Administrative Assistant Cathy Ferran worked with an engineer from Universal Mechanical Services and a state representative on the energy audit and the grant application.

“It’s all about numbers,” Kline said, “and how much energy you will save.”

Kline is hopeful the school can also receive matching funds from the state and energy rollbacks.

The school won’t receive the money until after February, when it can submit a plan for how the money will be used. The plan is dependent on the $35 million bond for school improvements that is on the Feb. 2010 ballot.

“The $150,000 will really help to defray some of the costs of the bond,” Kline said. “It isn’t enough to bring up all the energy systems to where we want them to be, but it’s enough to fix some things. We’ll have a different plan for if we get the bond, or if we don’t.”

With the energy improvements made possible by the grant, the school will save $13,400 a year. Kline says the savings will be even more if the bond is approved, as it will pay for completely replacing systems, not just repairing them.

“We spend about $200,000 a year on utility costs, some of which is water and some of which is energy,” Kline said. “Anything we can do to reduce those costs means more money is available for students and for the school’s buildings.”