Richmond Public Schools’ chief operating officer confirmed a Free Press finding that building new schools to a national energy standard has failed to pay off in energy savings.

Darin Simmons told the Richmond School Board on June 3 that building Huguenot High and three other schools to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED gold standard has not resulted in “significant” savings.

His comments came as he joined Robert Steidel, the city’s deputy chief of administration for operations, in briefing the School Board on possible ways to save money on the escalating costs for three new schools that are under construction by a joint city-school construction team. The schools are now projected to cost a collective $148 million, or $38 million more than originally estimated.

Mr. Steidel also confirmed that adhering to the lesser LEED silver standard, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, would add 8 percent to the cost, or about $12 million.

He said eliminating LEED standards in the construction would save possibly $3 million of that because money would still need to be spent to provide quality doors, windows and lighting that would be energy efficient.

The board is considering ways to save money and reduce the cost of the new schools, including recommendations Mr. Steidel presented to change the roofing system and to eliminate proposed electric car chargers in the parking lots.

All three schools are to be equipped with solar energy panels, now seen as a better way than LEED to cut spending on electricity once the buildings open in 2020. — JEREMY M. LAZARUS