Energy Leadership Program and Energy Savings Performance Project

Project Description

The Little Rock School District is an urban district with 40 schools and approximately 24,800 students. Little Rock Central High School is also a well-known historical landmark, built in 1927. The District was looking for ways to reduce energy and operating costs and improve the learning environment. Working with the Arkansas Energy Office, Performance Services, a pre-qualified provider with the State of Arkansas, was selected following a competitive process. Improvement projects for the District were carefully evaluated and planned through a collaborative effort to identify the most pressing facility needs and implemented them in two project phases.

Phase I: Energy Leadership Program

The Energy Leadership Program is an all-District behavior-based energy conservation program and professional services agreement, including selecting and hiring an on-site energy manager. The energy manager is focused on the operation of the building systems, scheduling, and planning for the efficient utilization of facilities and will fundamentally change how the District operates to reduce energy consumption without compromising the learning environment. The program is guaranteed to reduce utility consumption by 10-15% and by at least $6.5 million over a ten-year period.

Phase II: Energy Savings Performance Contract

The phase II project focused on six schools, including Central High School, Parkview High School, Stephens, Rockefeller, Washington Elementary Schools, and Dunbar Middle School. The renovation work impacted total square feet of 918,213. Energy conservation measures were implemented to allow the Little Rock SD facilities staff to focus on preventative maintenance and reduce the number of repairs and hot/cold alert calls.

Project Highlights

• Replaced old boilers and chillers past their life expectancy with high-efficiency boilers and chillers at Central High School and Dunbar Middle School
• Improved the function and operation of existing heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and building controls and implement an advanced temperature control system to enhance monitoring access and methods, reduce utility and service costs, and improve student and staff comfort
• Improved the interior lighting systems with LED to improve the learning environment and control energy costs
• Upgraded exterior lighting at all District schools to improve lighting and lower energy costs
• Upgraded gymnasium lighting to high efficiency LED lighting at the middle school and high schools

Results

Energy savings far exceeded the guarantee in three reporting years. Cumulative measured and verified savings exceeded the guarantee by $643,307 or 40%. Performance Services' engineers also helped secure $885,840 in utility incentives and rebates for the project.

The Energy Leadership Program mentors staff on equipment controls and optimized building scheduling techniques and engages students to integrate energy-efficient habits into daily routines. After adopting the Energy Leadership program, equipment upgrades, and Four-Season Optimization, the combined energy use index (EUI) of these facilities improved by 42 percent.

 

Sterling Miller

business development manager