How Can Your Facilities Reduce Your Operational Costs?

Bill Van Gieson and Charlie Jackson | Alamosa School DistrictMike Daley and Fred Roberts | The Neenan Company

District Wide Master Plan Campus Consolidation and Staffing Efficiencies Collaboration with Utility Providers and

Energy Options Maintenance Strategies

Alamosa Map

Public Input (with impacts on costs) Not too big (over 600 students) Save both district and parent transportation Improve staff utilization Use the sun Save operation costs

One Site with Connected “Pods”

One Site with Two Schools

Two Sites for Two Schools

Site Plan

New Remodel/Existing Staff sharing Fewer bus drops 5>3 Transportation

4-day school week Transportation Some Staff

Consolidation Increase faculty

utilization Transportation Staff

Learning Recissions required staff reduction earlier than planned,

but done with new school savings in mind Site selected didn’t allow transportation savings

Due to railroad and highways More students to bus Looking at 2-tier bussing (MS/HS and ES)

Impacts offsite need to be pushed forward and in writing

Alamosa’s New School Campus

Collaborating with Outside Partners Governors Energy Office

Grants and Incentives

Tax Incentives Federal Programs

Utility Incentives Xcel Energy Programs

Wray School District Wind Turbine The District was spending approximately $80,000

a year on electricity They were challenged to find new ways to create

additional revenue streams for the district They thought a wind turbine would be a perfect

way to decrease spending and provide educational opportunities for students

On the eastern edge of Colorado, the average wind speed at the site is estimated to be 18 mph, and the turbine is expected to produce about 2,700,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of clean energy per year

Through a combination of Energy Impact Grant, local pledges and pre-selling of renewable energy credits (RECs) they were able to finance the project

Xcel Energy Programs Energy Design Assistance

Xcel Energy business customer Project size greater than 50,000 SF Project status before or during “schematic design phase” Will to consider design options to save energy Commitment to achieve minimum of 5% demand savings

for “Basic” program and 16% savings for “Enhanced” program

Xcel Energy Programs Services

Free energy modeling (~$30,000 Value) Cash rebates of $300 per kW and $7 per decatherm Design fee reimbursement up to $12,000 “Enhanced” program includes additional modeling such as

daylighting and free calculation for LEED Energy and Atmosphere credit one

Xcel Energy Programs Energy Efficient Buildings

Prescriptive approach to achieve rebates For new construction, major renovations and additions Project size smaller than 50,000 SF

Services On site verification to review installed strategies Rebate amounts vary according to equipment purchased

and installed Non-prescriptive measures are up to $400 per kW and

$7 per decatherm

Xcel Rebate Example at Sargent Owner selected several

energy conservation strategies

Projected energy cost savings of over $72,000 per year

Xcel is providing a cash incentive of approximately $42,000 which will result in a simple payback of 9.4 years

Comparison of energy costs of Alamosa existing schools to the new schools

Boyd Elementary Electricity & Gas $32,200

Polston Elementary Electricity & Gas $27,028

Evans Elementary Electricity & Gas $34,362

Alamosa K-2 Elementary Electricity & Gas $34,424

Alamosa 3-5 Elementary Electricity & Gas $34,424

Total Building Area 99,095 SF$0.94 / SF 31 % Larger

26 % SavingsGrand Total $68,848Grand Total $93,590

Three Existing Schools Two New Schools

Total Building Area 144,000 SF$0.48 / SF

Energy Modeling

This allowed us to test the economics of various energy efficiency strategies

Created energy model of the existing Alamosa Middle School

Energy Modeling Evaluate replacing the existing light fixtures

Replacing the antiquated fixtures with newer technology saved 83% in electrical energy.

However, reducing the heat generated by the lights increased the building heating costs by 30%

It’s critical to look at the big picture – all the inter-related building systems

Xcel Rebate Example Replace existing light fixtures – middle school example

More efficient models will result in a reduction of electrical demand in the amount of 237.6 kW

Xcel offers an incentive for reducing lighting demand ~$400 per kW

This example is a rebate of ~$95,000 which would finance more than 50% of the replacement costs

Additionally the District would save 768,000 kWh of electrical charges per year

Energy Modeling Evaluate upgrading the roof insulation

R-4 roof insulation to R-30 Energy savings on 3.5%

Alamosa’s New School Campus

Alamosa’s New School Campus