White Oak Energy Upgrades Aimed At Efficiency And Comfort

Battling failing heating and cooling equipment, and faced with a lack of funding for repairs, the White Oak ISD entered into a contract finance agreement that uses future energy savings to pay for efficiency upgrades.

White Oak will spend more than $1.8 million dollars replacing and upgrading boilers, chillers and ventilation fans in nine district buildings totaling over 410,000 square feet. They will also update classroom and gym lighting. The whole system will be controlled and monitored by an energy management system to ensure comfort and efficiency.

Rather than entering into loans or issuing bonds, the ISD will pay for the upgrades from the energy savings they generate.

Known as Energy Performance Contracting, the deal works like this: The ISD entered into an agreement with a private energy service company (ESCO). The ESCO evaluate energy-saving opportunities and then recommend a package of improvements to be paid for through energy savings.

The ESCO guarantees that savings will meet or exceed annual payments on the upgrades, usually over a 7 - 10 year term. If the projected savings aren't realized, the ESCO pays the difference, not the ISD.

The upgrades at the district include a mixed bag of energy saving improvements. Two new boilers, and two new chillers will be installed, along with eight new circulating pumps.

Contractors will retrofit 10 existing air-handlers, and install CO2 and humidity sensors to automatically adjust building ventilation. New high efficiency lighting fixtures will be installed in classrooms and gyms, lowering utility costs and improving visibility.

Texas State Energy Conservation Office list the following Performance Contracting guidelines on it's website:

Energy Performance Contracting is a construction method that allows a facility to complete energy-saving improvements within an existing budget by financing them with money saved through reduced utility expenditures. Facilities make no up-front investments and instead finance projects through guaranteed annual energy savings.

To enter into a guaranteed energy savings performance contract (ESPC), a state agency must notify SECO of their intent, issue a Request for Qualifications (RFQ), and select a performance contractor, usually an energy service company (ESCO). After identifying eligible projects, the contractor designs and installs the needed improvements. The agency pays for the financed project out of savings realized by the improvements. By law, the contractor must guarantee that the savings will always be at least equal to the payments for the cost of the improvements. Current Texas law also enables institutions of higher education, state agencies, public school districts, and local governments to enter into energy service performance contracts (ESPC).