(Credit: Rockingham County Schools)In a two-phased approach, Johnson Controls replaced and installed heat pumps at select Rockingham County Schools in North Carolina, and upgraded the district-wide Metasys digital controls to deliver better environmental outcomes by the end of summer 2023. Allocating $12M in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding towards addressing HVAC maintenance.
An investment-grade audit completed in 2018 revealed 41% of its K-12 peers had a deferred maintenance backlog which negatively impacted the performance of its HVAC systems. When federal ESSER funding became available to K-12 institutions, the district turned to Johnson Controls for guidance on how to best utilize its available federal resources following a competitive RFQ bid process. Johnson Controls was awarded the design-build contract in close collaboration with SKA Consulting Engineers.
Based on the facility's audit, Johnson Controls determined the district needed to replace inoperable and outdated HVAC equipment in six facilities. In addition to multiple heat pump replacements and installations in three schools, the Johnson Controls team upgraded Rockingham County’s Metasys digital controls to allow for remote monitoring and a better understanding of the solutions’ overall health and performance.
With poor Indoor Air Quality proven to contribute to increased absenteeism and diminished academic performance, these strategic improvements will help foster a healthy, comfortable, and productive learning environment while streamlining internal operational processes. Pre-implementation air quality measurements will provide a baseline against which Johnson Controls can quantify and validate IAQ improvements. Under the continuing partnership, Johnson Controls will provide a team of three onsite experts to provide maintenance on an ongoing basis.
Energy management projects are common within schools and governments. In Arkansas, similar public energy efficiency efforts have saved $229 million since 2010. Schools in Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Virginia have also tackled energy projects with solar installations, lighting improvements, and HVAC system upgrades, among other improvements.
Additionally, Clinton Prairie School Corporation in Frankfort, Indiana, received $4.7 million in energy performance improvements through a contract with Johnson Controls. The deal included state-of-the-art LED lighting as well as building optimization throughout the school district.
