CASE STUDIES

Owatonna Public Schools - Owatonna, Minnesota

$3.4 Million In Energy And Operational Savings Helps School District Upgrade Learning Environments

Owatonna Public School District serves approximately 5,000 students with eleven
district buildings and over 840,000 square feet. They initiated a Comprehensive Performance Contracting Project with Energy Services Group to curb increasing
utility costs.

Challenges:

		Improve public concern over poor indoor air quality.
		Increasing utility costs and energy consumption at district buildings - budget shortfall concerns.
		Provide a learning environment that fosters academic achievement excellence for students and staff.

Solutions:

		Installation of lighting retrofits including converting existing fixtures from T-12 fluorescent lamps and magnetic ballasts to T-8 lamps and electronic ballasts, and convert incandescent lighting to fluorescent lighting. Installation of new fixtures to increase light levels.
		Installation of room occupancy sensors and exterior photocells for improved lighting control.
		Installation of high-low HID dimming systems with occupancy controllers in gymnasium.
		Installation of a district wide energy management system and direct digital controls on HVAC equipment for improved efficiency and comfort.
		Installation of variable frequency drives to modulate airflow on air handling units.
		Water conservation improvements, including automatic flush urinals and low flow fixtures.
		Installation of heat recovery system to capture waste heat from exhaust air and use it to heat the fresh ventilation air.
		Indoor air quality improvements including ventilation system rebalancing.
		Installation of an automatic pool cover to reduce heat loss and evaporation from pool and reduce damage caused by high humidity.
		Deferred maintenance improvements including cleaning and repairing mechanical system components.
		Temperature control updates for improved efficiency and comfort.
		Steam system improvements including steam trap repair and insulation upgrades for efficiency and improved comfort levels.
		Ongoing ten-year partnership, with Energy Service Group providing training and maintenance staff development, measurement/verification and performance assurance.

Results:

		Positive impact on environment, reduced energy consumption by more than 25 percent, while improving light levels and student comfort.
		Improved reliability of mechanical and electrical systems, district wide.
		Improved the learning environment by correcting indoor air quality deficiencies, which had become a district concern.
		Cost-effective, long-term solution to controlling classroom environments while decreasing operating costs.
		Reduced rising utility bills created by out-of-date, inefficient equipment.

Conclusion:

Owatonna Public Schools like many schools today, were encountering rising utility bills as a result of our out-of-date, inefficient equipment. In addition, public concern over the quality of the air children and teachers were breathing prompted finding a cost-effective, long-term solution that would improve classroom environments and simultaneously decrease operating costs. Performance Contracting with ESG was the answer.

The ESG Comprehensive Energy Services program has allowed Owatonna School District to cut operating costs while improving the quality of its students' learning environments. The district will save a minimum of $210,000 on energy consumption the first year, as well as increase its savings in subsequent years. In addition, the agreement will save the district a minimum of $69,000 in operating costs per year for 10 years, for a combined estimated savings of $3.4 million that will pay for equipment improvements.

We are very proud of our relationship with Owatonna Public Schools and their confidence to partner with ESG in implementing programs of this magnitude.

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