MY VIEW
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by Jack McFarland Director of Facilities, Nantucket Public Schools

ENERGY CONSERVATION IN THE SCHOOLS

Over the past several years and with the help of Christopher J. Collins from Energy Conservation, Inc. and Michael D. Peterson from National Grid/Nantucket Electric, we have received a total of

$167,400 through eight conservation incentives to help reduce the electrical consumption on the school campuses. In addition, through the generosity of the taxpayers, we have received specific capital funding the past five years for projects and

improvements that greatly increased the operating efficiencies of the lighting, heating and mechanical systems within the school buildings.

Lighting conservation measures included the replacement of 250 incandescent and down light units with fluorescent fixtures and the retrofitting of 1,400 classroom lights with high efficient electronic ballasts and T-8 lamps. This project was further enhanced with the installation of occupancy sensors in 137 rooms that automatically shut off the lights when the room is vacant. We will continue with these initiatives this spring with the help of two newly announced grants that include replacing the lighting in the natatorium and elementary school gymnasium.

Several heating and ventilation equipment projects were completed that had a very positive effect on reducing electrical consumption, including the recent replacement of all 49 exhaust fans on the high school campus. These units were replaced with the highest rated energy efficient motors and fans available that were compatible with our control and operating system.

The unit ventilators in the original section of the elementary school were replaced with digitally controlled, high efficient units that were designed to work effectively while being properly sized to meet the design of the new façade. The valves that supply the heat to those units were also replaced with electronic controls, further increasing the effectiveness of the mechanical operation.

Many other mechanical units system wide have been upgraded or replaced to meet our higher expectation for operating efficiencies. The single largest project was the heating and dehumidification project in the natatorium where we were able to replace two operationally deficient units that had to run constantly with one state-of-the art unit that can be programmed to shut down at certain prescribed intervals during the day. Independent engineers have calculated that this new system will save approximately $18,000 on an annualized basis.

Furthermore, we have greatly increased the capabilities of our control system to include 225 units or motors that now synchronize the heating and ventilation of a space with the occupancy schedule for that room.

Whenever a repair project or new construction is considered, our first criteria are always, how do we make this installation energy efficient? The motors have to be high efficient variable speed; the lights have to be "green tipped;" and the insulation has to have the highest R value available for that specific application. The high school façade and roof projects are prime examples where we nearly doubled the insulation factor for the building envelope and installed the more environmentally friendly and energy efficient white PVC membrane (compared to the existing heat absorbing black EPDM roofing).

Over the past five years, significant renovations and upgrades have taken place at the schools to keep up with mandates, directives and educational initiatives. Included in this category are 10 new offices and six new classrooms or learning laboratories that were renovated from many storage and one outside area. These all included significant electrical, lighting, life safety and mechanical system(s) installations. In addition, we have installed air conditioning in the libraries, culinary arts' room, central offices, conference rooms, guidance suite, career center, server rooms, computer laboratories, LGI and most offices that are occupied on a year round basis. Furthermore, technology has mushroomed in that same time frame so we now have a total of 918 computers, servers, printers and copiers as compared to 302 five years ago. This significantly adds to electrical usage and ventilation demands.

Despite adding all of these requirements, our annual KWH consumption of electricity has decreased by 9.5 percent in the same time frame. This

can be attributed to our conservation measures. I