The energy efficiency of institutional and commercial facilities is one of the most important goals for maintenance and engineering managers, and energy audits are among the most important tools managers have at their disposal to help achieve this goal.
Fauquier County (Va.) Public Schools will proceed with an energy audit of 18 school buildings with the goal of identifying energy efficiency opportunities.
The school division will borrow money to pay for the energy upgrades, then expects to be able to pay off the loan through savings on energy costs. The cost of the audit is $185,000. It will be rolled into the cost of the project but if the school division doesn’t proceed with the improvements it will be on the hook to pay it back, according to the Fauquier Times.
“The big picture reason is to break through the way we do maintenance,” Jeck says in explaining the rationale for doing an energy audit. “Rather than wait until there’s something wrong, we want to get to a place where we’re doing preventive maintenance,” the superintendent says. “We’ll be replacing inefficient equipment with efficient equipment.”
After the audit, school and county staff will determine a list of projects to undertake based on the highest risk to student environment and energy savings. Fauquier High School, which is using a boiler in service since 1963, tops the list of schools likely to see upgrades.
This Quick Read was submitted by Ryan Berlin, managing editor of Facility Maintenance Decisions.
