Engineers (right) inspect heating/cooling equipment at Homedale High School, built in 1940 through the WPA. Equipment tune-up will result in a potential savings in energy-related costs of $3,200 per year, according to Kenergy Energy Consulting.
Idaho’s entire K-12 public school system is getting tune-ups of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, thanks to a $17 million Recovery Act grant from the Department of Energy.
In addition, schools with equipment and facilities that flunk an efficiency assessment will be retrofitted with energy-efficient lighting, heat pumps, heating and cooling systems, and boilers. Ten Idaho engineering firms were contracted to audit all 703 schools in the state to determine which buildings and systems need upgrades the most.
The Homedale school district – site of at least one school dating back to 1940 – was selected as the pilot for the project, which began in June 2009. The overhaul of the boilers, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning units in the district’s five schools was completed in October 2009. Over the next two years, the program is estimated to create or save at least 150 jobs, according to the Department of Energy, which is also funding Idaho’s Energy Efficiency Project.
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