Facing uncomfortable classrooms and high utility bills due to aging HVAC equipment, Granger School District employed an innovative computer-based heating and cooling system.
Granger School District, located in rural eastern Washington, had an aging HVAC system that was taxing the district with excess costs and uncomfortable classrooms. Due to the hard water in the area, the aging system, especially the chiller, had been over-worn and was not functioning reliably or to its full capacity. As a result, the school’s facilities department was running the heating and cooling systems simultaneously year round and playing a daily guessing game to keep the temperature balanced at a learning conducive and comfortable level, wasting energy and running up costs.
“The old chiller was half efficient and we were running on one compressor versus two. Our old chiller was a dinosaur; we were running it almost twice as long as we needed to keep our building cool. And it is now extinct."
-Steve Buchanan, Facilities Director at Granger High School
In 2012, the District partnered with Schneider Electric to apply for State funding to plan the necessary upgrades. After receiving a $1,000,000 OSPI Energy Grant, the District hired Schneider to replace the chiller, flush out the current system and replace the aging parts. When the district’s new HVAC system went live, the facilities department immediately saw drastic savings.
The new system monitors the temperature through a computer program that allows corrections to each individual room and area remotely. Not only does this save time – it saves the facilities director a lot of gas money from not commuting 30 miles in whenever there is a problem! More importantly, with the new efficient system, Granger School District is seeing savings of around $60,000 a year – the equivalent of a teacher’s salary!
Key Players
Granger School District - represented by: Steve Buchanan, Facilities Director; Margarita Lopez, Superintendent; Tricia Anderson, Vice Principal.
Schneider Electric, Energy Retrofit Partner for Granger School District - Schneider Electric, a global leader in energy management, has contributed to the transformation of industries with an innovative, international, and responsible mindset. Operating in over 100 countries and with more than 130,000 employees, the company’s mission is to help people make the most of their energy.
Northwest Energy Efficiency Council (NEEC) - a non-profit trade association of the energy efficiency industry. NEEC member companies provide energy efficiency products and services and assist in the development and implementation of energy efficiency programs. NEEC advocates an affordable, energy efficient future for commercial, industrial and residential customers
