The Challenge
- Escalating energy costs, potential for doubling energy costs in near future
- Already tight operating budgets
- Inefficient and dated HVAC and water heating systems
- Various sources of energy loss throughout the facilities
- Overall environment was not optimized for learning
- Understood need for improvements; however, a creative solution was required to overcome budget challenges
The Solution
TEPG and its partners conducted an energy audit to learn how and where we were using energy.
From the energy audit results, the team created a customized energy savings plan to answer Vestaburg’s specific challenges:
- Upgraded steam boilers to hot water boilers
- More energy efficient, less utility costs
- Provides a failure backup, meaning less school closures
- Prevents water freezing in the pipes
- Prevents water leakage at joints
- Better protects the District’s system and investment
- Less costly to maintain
- Updated lighting
- Provides better lighting for an environment more conducive to learning
- Reduces energy usage and utility costs
- Added solar hot water heater
- Provided free-of-charge by TEPG and team as part of a study to test the solar hot water heater’s effectiveness in this application
- The solar hot water heater is a secondary water heating source
- Ideally, the solar hot water heater will enable the standard hot water heater to be even more efficient
- Further reducing energy usage and utility costs
- Upgraded doors, improved seals
- Reduces energy loss, saves on utility costs
- Improved computer setup
- More energy efficient, runs four to seven computers from one tower
- Energy efficient monitors use less energy
- Automatic system shut-off reduces wasted energy
- This affects our three computer labs: the elementary, middle school and high school.
- Overall greater efficiency means less utility costs
- TEPG and its partners also quantified the amount of anticipated energy savings in terms of usage and dollars.
- TEPG also created a financing plan whereby Vestaburg could use the identified savings to pay for the needed upgrades…meaning no out-of-pocket expenses for the district.
The Results
- Enables savings of $1,600,000 in energy costs over 15 years
- Combats escalating energy costs
- Provides a more comfortable and conducive to learning
- Offers systems that are easier and less costly to maintain