Schools are the spot for innovative ideas – even in the boiler room. The maintenance team at a Grande Prairie school applied new ideas to an old problem: how to heat large buildings.

By integrating sensors and controls to continuously monitor and regulate the firing and flow rates, the custom heating plant makes adjustments according to the weather and occupancy of the school.

Swanavon Elementary School in Grande Prairie installed a custom boiler system.

“We pushed the envelope on design,” says Scott Campbell, Mechanical Lead Hand for the Grande Prairie Public School Division. Campbell collaborated with his colleagues in the maintenance department and engineers in Edmonton to design and install the new system from the ground-up.

“We decided to demolish the entire room and sweep the floor and start over. We started from ground zero – brand new everything,” says Campbell, noting that the boilers, circulators, expansion tanks, heat exchanger and control valves were all new.

And the results speak for themselves. The graph below shows the cumulative savings in natural gas since the new boiler system was installed in August 2018. As of March 2019, Swanavon School in Grande Prairie saved over 200 GJ or 15% of natural gas. This fraction will increase as the first half of the heating system was used to optimize the equipment.

Third heating system retrofit for Swanavon School

A complete rebuild of a heating system is not uncommon for old buildings, especially in facilities located in regions with cooler winters. Swanavon School, which was built in 1958, already had one boiler upgrade in 1996.

The latest retrofit at Swanavon School was on the books for the next year, but a series of failures pushed the schedule of the upgrade to 2018.

“I would rather be ahead of the curve and not deal with a failure in the middle of the heating season,” says Campbell, who has been with the division for seven years.

The previous boiler plant was also undersized, limiting its ability to maintain the temperature setpoints in the building on cold days.

It was an opportunity to improve the reliability of the heating plant to make sure students and teachers are comfortable. And for Campbell, it was an opportunity to save the school division money by improving efficiency.

From design to installation

Conception and design began in early 2018. Demolition and installation were scheduled for the summer, when students were away for the summer break and the heating plant could be turned off. Due to cooler-than-expected weather in early June, the demolition was pushed back a few weeks.

Installation was finished when school resumed in the fall – just in time for the return of cool weather. In September 2018, the boiler was operational and final controls and programming were completed in the fall.

Benefits for the entire school community

Swanavon School in 1983

By creating a custom design for the school’s boiler plant, Campbell and the engineers were able to maximize the energy usage specifically for the facility. Any new boiler system would improve comfort and efficiency, but a custom design made it possible to adapt the entire system to the facility to optimize its performance.

The new heating plant has had a noticeable impact on utility bills, and students and teachers can also feel the difference. Or, more importantly, they don’t notice periods of exceedingly hot or cold temperatures.

“The building has more stable comfort,” says Campbell.

For the Grande Prairie School Division maintenance team, the new boiler system is more straightforward to maintain because it uses the same boilers as other schools. Technicians will be able to swap parts and train at one school in order to be an expert in many facilities.

Improvements in reliability benefit both the maintenance staff and school community. Swanavon School now maintains a “stable comfort level and stable temperatures.”

The boiler project was completed at the same time as upgrades to the facility’s lighting. Between October 2018 and March 2019, the lighting upgrades dropped electricity consumption by 25% and the boiler plant reduced fuel consumption by 10%.

Custom design and creative scheduling

The new system at Swanavon School uses two boilers on 100% lead lag, so the second boiler only operates when the heating demand exceeds the capacity of the first boiler. Each boiler injects directly into the main building loop.

As a dynamic system, the firing rates and the circulators for the system and boiler can all be modulated. If the boiler is modulating at 30%, then the boiler and building circulators all run at 30%. All the equipment responds to changes in the boilers’ firing rates. To prevent damage to the copper tubing in the heat exchanger, the flow rates follow the recommendations from the manufacturer.

Every circulator is modulated for flow rate and amperage. Campbell calls the system-wide monitoring the “intel” for his plumbing team, aiding in the optimization of the circulators and combustion blower.

In addition to the mechanical improvements, creative scheduling added an additional bump to overall system efficiency. The radiant panel loop was separated from the air system heat coil loop enabling independent operation and reducing the unnecessary pump energy circulating hot water. Hot water temperatures are adjusted to meet the building demand via the radiators during non-occupied times reducing runtime of the forced air system resulting in run time reduction and wear on the air handlers.

Just as students are encouraged to create innovative solutions for problems, maintenance staff from the Grande Prairie School Division are demonstrating that a critical eye for old school ideas can save energy and money.

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Rede recently reviewed SD27’s investments into efficiency projects and the annual savings over the past decade – for every project. The payback period for all energy management and efficiency projects since 2010 is 1.4 years.

The energy efficiency investment and annual savings since 2010, with forecasted values for 2020.

SD27 also cut the amount of carbon offsets purchased by 43% in the past 10 years.

These savings in energy costs, consumption and carbon offsets come from retrofitting and optimizing existing facilities. Here are some projects that were completed:

• Modernizing boilers in the district’s largest schools.
• Switching fuels in some facilities from propane or natural gas to biomass pellets or geoexchange.
• Upgrading lighting (first from T12 to T8s and later to LEDs) and installing variable drives.
• Updating or reprogramming building automation systems.

SD27 is among the top 3 of all districts for carbon offset reductions and has been recognized by the Climate Action Secretariat for their success.

Read more about our 10-year review of SD27’s efficiency investments and annual savings. 

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A middle school in northwestern Alberta is expected to save $40,000 a year after a scheduling error was identified and resolved. With only adjustments to the building automation system, the costs to find and fix the problem were paid off in a few months from electricity and fuel savings.

Spirit of the North Community School has around 40 staff and 250 students from Grade 4 to Grade 6. The school is located in the northwestern corner of Alberta in the town of High Level.

The first clues to an issue was a large utility bill from the facility given its size. Rede visited the site and identified a 60-kW load at the electrical panel after occupancy – a significant load considering the facility was empty.

This large electrical consumption was attributed to three ventilation systems – totaling 50 HP in fan power – operating constantly. Rede analyzed the building automation code and found that a one-line programming error caused the schedule to not be followed.

After the scheduling was enabled in October 2017, the electricity consumption was reduced by 37% and natural gas consumption by 16% compared to the previous year. Spirit of the North Community School saved $41,500 in utility costs over the first year.

The situation was exasperated by unnecessary ventilation of air during cold months, where additional fan power and natural gas was required to heat up cold air. The simple change to the facility’s schedule contributed to more energy savings.

Spirit of the North Community School experiences a significant temperature range throughout the year. With a subarctic climate, High Level experiences a significant range of temperatures throughout the year. Winters tend to bring significant periods of cold weather, and cold air tends to collect in the region due to its relatively low altitude. Summers are warm, with the average temperature rising to above 20˚C. Every building can benefit from a thoughtful and custom schedule, but the benefits are more defined for facilities in climates with wide temperature ranges.

Given the work involved and the magnitude of savings, the investment was recovered in a few months and “banked savings” are earmarked for future improvements. Collecting and analyzing data from building automation systems is a cost-effective and streamlined approach to ongoing optimization and opening up funds for future projects.

Project Cost = $10,500
Estimated Annual Cost Savings = $41,500
Target Payback = 0.25 years

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Rede and School District #27 (Cariboo-Chilcotin) upgraded the Cataline Elementary School to a biomass boiler – a change that has achieved a 95% carbon neutrality. The boiler was installed in the summer of 2016 and has reduced the annual greenhouse gas emissions by 284 tonnes.

This project is now a case study for the BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy and CleanBC. By reducing utility costs, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving classroom air quality and comfort, the boiler upgrade is an example of a creative solution to meet carbon reduction targets.

Rede has collaborated with School District #27 to create an ongoing strategic energy management plan to achieve district-wide reduction in energy consumption and utility costs. The Cataline Elementary School boiler was one project out of many throughout the district, but it was unique for a few reasons:

1. Biomass boilers are rare in schools
2. The project required collaboration with Thompson River University (Williams Lake Campus), a neighbouring facility that is also heated by the biomass boiler

The Climate Action Success Story notes that the project has achieved these benefits:

• Annual GHG emissions have been reduced by 284 tonnes
• Total utilities costs are down 48%
• TRU heating costs are down 15% with no capital outlay or maintenance costs
• The new pellet boiler is 95% carbon neutral
• Air quality has been improved

See the complete case study from the BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy and CleanBC.

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Case study on the Northland School Division

Energy efficiency has the potential to save an Alberta school division $700,000 on their $1.2 million annual utility bill – savings that can be reinvested into additional infrastructure upgrades.

An energy efficiency audit was completed at the Northland School Division after the division found they were spending too much money on utilities and their maintenance team was too busy driving from school to school. Now energy efficiency is a priority for the school district, which has K-12 schools throughout northern Alberta.

Project highlights

• A simple proposal to upgrade lighting fixtures has resulted in major electricity reductions.
• Facility-wide lighting upgrades completed at two schools, resulting in a 10 per cent decrease in electricity use at Athabasca Delta Community School and a 23 per cent decrease at Anzac Community School. Smaller upgrades completed at three additional locations.
• Lighting upgrades provide a safer, more comfortable lighting environment.
• LED fixtures replaced a combination of fluorescent and metal halide lamps. Lifespans for these new LED fixtures are about 4 times higher than previous lamps, reducing maintenance requirements.
• Upgrades are in progress at four more schools.

Savings are possible, but where to start?

Northland School Division covers an area twice as large as New Brunswick and Nova Scotia combined, serving the needs of about 2,000 students at 20 schools. With aging infrastructure, maintaining facilities in a massive geographic area and costly utility bills, it was clear that energy savings were possible for the Alberta school division. But what to tackle first?

Northland enlisted the support of Rede to create a plan. Rede works with rural school districts to improve energy efficiency and make the best use of tight budgets for school facility maintenance.

“Reducing maintenance costs in rural schools helps to ensure they’re sustainable and remain the vital community hubs they are,” says Marco Bieri, Energy Efficiency Engineer at Rede.

Northland’s energy efficiency blueprint

Rede brought their expertise to the project, but they looked to the school community for insights. By engaging administrators, facilities staff, teachers and students, an Energy Management Charter was created.

Energy Management Charter

The Energy Management Charter serves as a blueprint for ongoing efficiency projects. It embraces three core principles:

1. Simplicity balanced with efficiency
2. Standardization
3. Remote access

To guide all energy efficiency initiatives, the charts includes three key strategies:

1. Keep it local
2. Staff training
3. Reinvest savings

“The Energy Management Charter keeps our team focused,” says Wayne Turpin, Division Construction Manager with Northland.

“Its shared values ensure we keep reinvesting energy savings back into our priorities.”

Diving into school energy efficiency

Energy audits of Northland’s facilities were conducted and analyzed. Rede helped Northland to prioritize projects and create a detailed plan of action. The Business Energy Savings program through Energy Efficiency Alberta provided incentives to help Northland offset some of the immediate capital costs of the project.

Northland’s existing lighting stock is primarily fluorescent lamps in classrooms, hallways and administration, and then metal halides in gymnasiums and larger common areas. In addition to a higher power requirement, these fixtures have a shorter lifespan than LED lights, leading to additional maintenance trips. Upgraded fixtures are compatible with a wireless control system and have the ability for remote maintenance in the future.

For more information about LED lighting upgrades in K-12 schools, see Rede’s best practices for school LED lighting.

The results

Two schools were selected as pilot projects for the upgrades: Anzac Community School and Athabasca Delta Community School. Upgrades were carried out in the first few months of 2018, with some exterior replacements were postponed to the late spring. In total, over 1,000 fixtures were replaced in Athabasca Community School and almost 300 in Anzac Community School.

Improved student experience

The improvement was immediately noticeable. Patchy and low-quality lighting in each school’s gymnasium was transformed. Glares and hotspots in the classrooms were eliminated. Student experience was improved at both schools.

Smaller utility bills

The impact on Northland utility bills was clear. From May to December 2018, electricity consumption at Anzac Community School and Athabasca Delta Community School decreased by over 75,000 kWh – resulting in savings over almost $8,500.

Capital costs are projected to be recovered from these upgrades within four years for Anzac and within eight years for Athabasca.

Next steps for Northland

Energy efficiency upgrades are continuing at Northland School Division. Smaller lighting upgrades are now complete at Bishop Routhier School, St. Theresa School and Bill Woodward School. Additional lighting upgrades are underway at in Paddle Prairie, Grouard, Calling Lake, and Father Perin schools.

Wayne Turpin is excited for how energy efficiency is playing a role in Northland’s future.

“We’re looking at a savings opportunity of over half a million dollars a year. Whether you’re a school, a bank, or an oil firm – that’s a number you can’t ignore.”

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Unlike workplaces or homes, K-12 schools have unique routines that change with the seasons, semesters and even periodically for short breaks. Inconsistent occupancy is a challenge when preparing the schedules for building automation systems. But it can also be an opportunity to seek significant savings in energy usage and utility costs by adjusting schedules for short-term breaks.

School District 27 in British Columbia saved over $4,500 by adjusting the scheduling for its school facilities for the 2018 spring break. In 15 elementary schools and eight secondary schools, the schedules were set to accommodate reduced occupancy from March 19 to 22.

The schedules for the building automation systems were not adjusted for the 2017 spring break. Comparing the electricity usage between March 2017 and March 2018 showcases the savings of a scheduling adjustment.

Total kWh Savings = 43,188
Total Cost Savings (at $0.105/kWh) = $4,534.77

Scheduling HVAC systems is a common area of improvement for energy management in K-12 schools. Read about other opportunities for ongoing recommissioning of K-12 school facilities.

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Upgrades to gymnasium and exterior lighting reduces energy and maintenance costs in BC school district

School District 27 in the Central Interior of British Columbia upgraded gymnasium and exterior lighting to LEDs in elementary and secondary school facilities—a change that is expected to save the district $30,000 every year.

The district is expecting that the upgrades will reduce electricity consumption by 280,000 kWh every year.

Read more about SD27’s LED upgrades at Energy Plan. 

DISTRICT-WIDE SAVINGS

Gymnasiums

• 200,000 kWh
• $21,000 annually
• Project cost – $78,000
• Incentives received – $10,000
• Simple payback of 3.2 years

Metal halide to high bay LED

• Supported by the BC Hydro BESI program
• Received approximately 25% in material funding
• Installed in-house
• Simple payback of 2 to 4 years, depending on hours of operation

F32T8 fluorescent to TLED

• Installed in-house
• Did not have to replace ballasts
• Simple payback of 2 to 3 years, depending on hours of operations

External lighting

• 80,000 kWh
• $9,000 annually
• Project cost – $20,000
• Simple payback of 2.2 years
• Numerous external fixtures all swapped to LED
• Installed in-house

Read more about SD27’s LED upgrades at Energy Plan.

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Changing to energy efficient lighting does more than save energy

Schools throughout School District No. 27 (Cariboo – Chilcotin) are replacing lights with LEDs. These small lights are common in string lights, electronics, toys and exit signs, but now they can be used in most outdoor and indoor fixtures.

Incandescent bulbs are very inefficient. In fact, they generate so much heat that only 5% of the energy provided is used to produce light. Switching to LED lights can cut the energy costs for lighting in half! This is good for the environment and good for our schools.

There are even more benefits of LED lights. Here are some reasons switching to LEDs from traditional incandescent or fluorescent bulbs makes sense:

• LED lights last 6x longer
• Don’t contain any harmful chemicals like mercury or lead
• Can be turned on instantly
• Don’t produce intense heat so they are safer to touch
• Can produce coloured light without filters
• Dimmable
• Don’t flicker

Another great reason LED lights are better – they help our students learn! Good lighting is important in the classroom and LEDs provide better quality.

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The Sunshine Coast School District is living up to its name.

British Columbia School District 46 (Sunshine Coast) is in the process of installing significant amounts of photovoltaic solar on the roofs at three facilities.

Langdale Elementary School in Gibsons, BC just underwent a boiler retrofit project and the replacement of all the original single-pane windows with low emissivity double glazing. Funding left over from the boiler retrofit as well as a previous roofing project is now being invested into photovoltaic solar at the school.

“This is a very exciting project! The location of the building and the style of roofing has enabled us to be able install a net metering solar array that is expected to produce 98 megawatt-hours of electricity annually,” said Rob Collison, district manager of facilities and transportation.

“The school typically uses around 90 Megawatt hours per year, which means this facility will actually be an energy utility instead of a customer.”

Collison said the district plans to refit the school lighting system in the coming years to all LED lighting, which will reduce the electricity consumption even further.

In the end, the panels are expected to have a payback period far less than the life expectancy.

“In terms of simple payback, it’s looking to be about 16 years. The panels are guaranteed for 25 years, but most suppliers are suggesting 35 years to be a reasonable life expectancy.”

The two other facilities in SD46 being studied for solar feasibility are Davis Bay Elementary in Sechelt, BC and Pender Harbour Secondary in Madeira Park, BC. Both schools are heated completely by electricity and both schools have received funding for HVAC system replacements due to the age of the systems.

Although electricity is a clean and reliable heat source, the cost is expensive and rates are expected to increase significantly over the coming years.

“We looked at converting both schools over to hydronic heating and adding a fuel source, but we would then be actually increasing our carbon footprint – which isn’t the least bit appetizing,” said Collison.

Other ideas were carbon neutral options like biomass and biodiesel, but both are expensive and not easy to get on the Sunshine Coast.

“We ran the numbers, looked at all of our options, and solar was the obvious choice at 50% the annual utility cost of the next nearest option.”

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Photo credits: KMBR Architects Planners and Ed White Photographic.

A British Columbia school district took the extra steps to build a LEED Gold Certified building – a process that had its challenges.

In the end, the extra steps have been worth the challenge for School District 46 (Sunshine Coast), according to the district’s facilities and transportation manager, Rob Collison.

As a public-sector organization, British Columbia schools are required to construct new facilities that are energy efficient. To meet carbon neutral and energy efficiency goals, Collison said it “only makes sense to build facilities to LEED Gold standards.”

Photo credit: KMBR Architects Planners and Ed White Photographic

The facility, Gibsons Elementary, was completely rebuilt after a feasibility plan determined the original building (which was built in 1950) has both seismic and system deficiencies. In addition, the original facility was too large for the current student enrolment.

Built to LEED Gold standards, the new building is smaller and significantly more energy efficient.

Collison said the building is well lit with natural light and feels “very comfortable and noticeably well ventilated and fresh when you walk in.”

It is no more difficult to maintain and operate compared to any other school in his district.

With so many standards to meet, LEED Gold had its challenges.

“There is lots of criteria that has to be met,” said Collison, who has been working in the Sunshine Coast district for six years.

“Sometimes it’s things that don’t seem to be very important, like the amount of parking spots and bus stops near the school. Every point counts when you are trying to get that high of certification.”

Although there are lots of standards to meet, it is often a bunch of little things on the checklist that get you there instead of a single major item.

“It takes a little bit more thought, but that doesn’t mean it is any more difficult. It takes more planning and careful choosing of new products.”

The benefit of building a LEED Gold school did not just remain in Gibsons – positive changes have spread throughout the district.

LEED Gold requires green cleaning products to be used by custodial staff. When looking into sourcing the green supplies for Gibsons Elementary, it was determined that the same cleaners can be used in every school in the district.

“We found it was an easy transition to take the entire district over to green cleaning products.”

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