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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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Recommissioning is a continuous process for facilities that aims to reduce energy and improve occupancy comfort by refining the building’s operations. The process for recommissioning is monitoring your facilities, analyzing the data and making refinements.

The refinements are typically small changes to existing equipment operation and having the system operate as it was designed, where the payback for upgrades or retrofits is usually under two years. In a previous post, we covered the most common areas of improvement for school facility recommissioning. These top three areas are:

1. Scheduling of HVAC systems
2. Integrating upgrading into existing systems
3. Eliminating opposing operations

As common as these three improvements are, no two schools are the same. Marco Bieri, Efficiency Engineer at Rede, has a consistent process to identify the first steps for recommissioning school facilities.

The recommissioning process begins by looking at the energy consumption (or the energy going into a facility), but the potential for improvements comes from reviewing how the energy is being used.

Just like a financial advisor reviewing a budget, monitoring the money going in is simple. Understanding where the money is being spent is more complex but far more informative.

The goal of recommissioning is optimizing when equipment runs and adjust according to the facility’s usage and time of the year.

“That’s the big thing about recommissioning – only running the equipment when needed,” explains Bieri.

By understanding the purpose of the individual components in a facility, you can calibrate the equipment to function the way it was intended.

You can follow these steps to find opportunities to save money and energy in your own schools.

Step 1: Look at your energy bills

Use the data already collected by utility providers. A building’s energy consumption is the first clue to how well a facility is operating and provides the baseline for consumption.

Review the monthly billed energy usage graph and see if it is similar to a rectangle.

Sample annual electricity consumption that indicates the facility is following a schedule.

Sample annual electricity consumption that indicates the facility may not be following a schedule.

“As simple as it sounds – if you look at the electricity profile and utility bills by month and it’s a big rectangle, then that means the school is not reacting to the average school’s occupancy scheduled,” says Bieri.

A consistent energy consumption means the facility is not adjusting according to the building automation schedule (or it doesn’t follow a schedule).

“It’s simple in a sense. It shows that some things are not turning on or off as occupancy and facility demand vary over time and over seasons.”

Step 2: Review the building’s schedule

Investigating the functionality and granularity of the schedule (whether your energy bills show a rectangle or not) is helpful to determine if it is performing optimally.

“The first and foremost thing is equipment scheduling,” says Bieri.

“Does the building have scheduling capability, what schedule controls what equipment, and is the schedule actually controlling the equipment?”

There is a huge potential for savings if the scheduling has any issues or is not optimized. Finding a problem will result in a huge reward in ongoing energy savings by resolving or updating the schedule.

In one facility, Bieri found an error in the scheduling thatresultedin annual savings of $40,000 or 35% when resolved. The first clue was an anomalously large utility bill for the elementary school given its size. Diving into the automation code exposed a one-line error that caused the three primary ventilation systems to operate constantly.

Opportunities exist from not only solving errors but finding opportunities for optimization based on school holidays and long weekends. A school district in British Columbia saved over $4,500 in 15 elementary schools and eight secondary schools by adjusting its schedules for spring break.

Step 3: Figure out what, why and when equipment runs

“Just because a schedule is present doesn’t mean that the equipment follows it,” says Bieri.

“Take a physical walk through a mechanical room or virtually through the BAS after hours – the findings can surprise you.”

Equipment may be functioning constantly due to broken and disconnected timeclocks, BAS linking issues or server upgrade issues.

Step 4: Investigate problem areas

Another clue are trouble areas in your facility that have consistent problems. This could be a classroom that is always too warm or a school wing that tends to feel stuffier than the rest of the facility due to poorer ventilation.

“I talk with the people that run the building and usually there’s a spot that requires a lot of maintenance,” notes Bieri.

“This means it is not running as designed – so there is an opportunity for improvement. No one want to be hassled with occupancy complaints so often equipment is sometimes ran in excess.”

Resolving problems that your maintenance teams routinely face will not only save electricity and fuel, but it will save employee time and headaches.

Step 5: Improve operator schedule confidence

If your job has you travelling from school to school, Bieri recommends discussing the state of facilities with the staff that are there every day. They are the experts of that school’s equipment and problem areas.

Understand who controls the schedule and their degree of trust for the facility’s schedule. Without that trust, the schedule may be ignored and useless. It is every commissioning agent’s job to build confidence for the schedule through education and discussions.

“The people on site have a lot of information that you can’t get from a computer or facility drawings,” says Bieri.

“Just talking to them, you will be able to figure out a lot of issues.”

Are you in the process of recommissioning your school facilities (or just getting started)? Contact Rede for custom recommissioning advice to improve the efficiency of your own facilities. 

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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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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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What’s the energy consumption of a K-12 school in Canada?

Short answer: the average is 244 ekWh/m² (Natural Resources Canada, 2014).

The long answer is more interesting. The variance between Canadian K-12 schools is considerable and the difference in energy consumption between different types of facilities in the country is even more extreme. To compound this variance, Canada’s geographic and climate diversity has a large influence on the consumption. The overall average is on a gradual decline – improved energy efficiency and retrofits are contributing to reduced average consumption.

And even more useful – calculating the average energy consumption of a single K-12 school facility. This value is powerful for two comparisons:

1. Compare a facility with a regional average
2. Compare a facility with its historic averages

The power of averages is comparing your facility with the other facilities. Here are the averages and how they are calculated.

How energy consumption is measured

The data for a facility’s energy consumption typically come from two sources: the utility provider or the building automation system. Every operational building receives utility bills, so the total consumption and costs is easy to monitor via the utility provider. As building automation systems become increasingly common in K-12 facilities, the monitoring capabilities are extending beyond general consumption and into type, time and quantities of usage.

Reporting requirements from provincial governments (such as British Columbia’s greenhouse gas reporting for public institutions) is extending consumption reporting from voluntary to mandatory.

Standard units for comparing energy consumption are:

• Building Energy Cost Index (BECI): cost/area (such as $/m²)
• Building Energy Performance Index (BEPI): energy use/area (such as ekWh/m²or GJ/m2)
• Energy Use Intensity (EUI): energy use/area (such as ekWh/m2 or GJ/m²)

EUI is effectively the same measure as BEPI – they both normalize energy consumption according to the area of a building. And ekWh (or equivalent kWh) is a unit of energy consumption that is used to convert the volume of an energy source into equivalent energy units. For example, 1 cubic metre (or 1 GJ) of natural gas is 278 ekWh and 1 litre of propane is 7 ekWh.

energy consumption in Canadian schools

As reported by Natural Resources Canada in 2014, the average energy consumption for primary and secondary schools in the country is 245 ekWh/m² (or 0.88 GJ/m²). Energy Star Portfolio Manager states the average energy consumption is 209 ekWh/m² (or 0.75 GJ/m² ).

Energy intensity (ekWh/m2) for Canadian K-12 schools. The area of primary schools is usually under 10,000 square feet and the area of secondary schools is usually over 10,000 square feet. (Natural Resources Canada, 2014)

School Size	Number of Buildings	Floor Space	Energy Use	Energy Intensity
Total	17501	70.8	62.2	0.88
5,000 square feet or less (465 square metres or less)	2947	0.4	0.3	0.7
5,001 to 10,000 square feet (466 to 929 square metres)	918	0.7	1	1.33
10,001 to 50,000 square feet (930 to 4,645 square metres)	9390	27.8	25.4	0.91
50,001 to 200,000 square feet (4,646 to 18,580 square metres)	3973	34.5	29.1	0.84
Over 200,000 square feet (Over 18,580 square metres)	273	7.4	6.5	0.88

(Natural Resources Canada, 2014)

This difference in reported averages is not a surprise. Considering Canada is an extremely diverse country with a dramatic range in climate, the average energy consumption of K-12 school facilities is equally diverse. A 2017 review of the energy consumption of primary and secondary schools in Manitoba calculated the median average of the energy consumption for schools in the province to be 29 per cent higher than the national average. The same study calculated the average for Toronto schools to be 35 per cent higher than the national average.

For the Manitoba facilities, the researchers determined the only factor that had a statistically significant effect on energy consumption was building age. Older facilities tend to consume more energy.

Sources of energy in Canadian schools. The split between electricity and fuel is around 40-60. (Natural Resources Canada, 2014)

Schools compared with other types of facilities

Compared to other types of commercial and institutional facilities, K-12 school facilities have the lowest average energy intensity. Schools with typical schedules are generally occupied between 2,000 and 3,500 hours per year, with half of their use occurring afterhours when custodians are cleaning. School facilities tend to not be occupied 24/7, nor year-round and they are not using energy for manufacturing or storage, so the energy consumption is accounted for by primarily daytime occupation.

Here is the average energy intensity of K-12 school buildings compared to other educational facilities and other types of buildings from Energy Star Portfolio Manager.

The energy intensity of K-12 school facilities compared to other types of educational facilities. (Energy Star Portfolio Manager)

Impacts of climate and Geography

The influence of climate and geography on a facility’s energy consumption is apparent in the average regional energy intensity. The prairie region has the highest average energy intensity in Canada followed by British Columbia.

Here’s the energy intensity by region in Canada from Statistics Canada.

Average energy intensity in Canada by regions. (Statistics Canada)

Canada’s geography and climate has an incredible spread. A school building in Northern Alberta will – not surprisingly – require more fuel to heat the facility than the same building on Vancouver Island. Heating degree-days can assist in comparing energy consumption across different regions.

Heating degree-days is a measure of the number of days that a region has an average temperature below 18˚C. (This target temperature is different around the world – the Canadian standard is 18˚C.) A higher heating degree-days value means facilities in that region are expected to require more heating. Heating degree-days is an indicator of the relative amount of energy consumed for heating facilities.

Integrating heating degree-days with a BEPI provides an energy consumption value that is averaged for the size of a facility and takes into account the local climate. This calculation is the foundation of an energy benchmark.

Annual heating degree-days under 18˚C in Western Canada. (National Atlas of Canada)

The future of green buildings in Canada

Energy consumption averages are a baseline to compare future improvements within facilities and regional changes.

The Canada Green Building Council monitors the trends in energy efficiency and the impacts to building design. With the ultimate goal of reducing energy intensity in Canadian buildings, these trends indicate approaches and policies that are being implemented by facility managers (or will be implemented soon).

Energy consumption data through comprehensive building analytics is becoming essential to create strategies for reducing consumption. For facility managers, ongoing reporting and benchmarking can indicate and verify effective approaches and recognizes the cumulative impacts of small changes. Energy accounting is also expanding to include the full costs of energy production and consumption, especially for regional policies or programs.

The future of green buildings does not only refer to new facilities. Retrofits will be necessary to continue reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions. Likewise, effective strategies for sustainability extend beyond mechanical systems and include the awareness and behaviour of occupants.

Reducing carbon emissions is another goal of energy efficiency programs. Although energy efficiency and carbon emissions tend to go hand-in-hand, there are scenarios when improving efficiency does not have equivalent reductions in emissions. If carbon emissions are a deliberate goal, a deliberate strategy may be required.

How much energy does your school consume?

Compare your school’s energy consumption with the national average. Use Rede’s school energy consumption calculator to estimate the energy use and cost intensities.

This consumption estimate is the first step to an energy benchmark for your facility. Use the benchmark to calculate the impacts of energy efficiency projects in comparison with other school facilities and the building’s historical consumption.

Rede’s specialty is understanding energy consumption and data from a building automation system, and then creating action plans and results with that information. With an energy consumption baseline, K-12 school facilities teams can plan for achievable changes and monitor the results.

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Continuous optimization relies on routine monitoring, analysis and responses to adjust the operations of a facility. This process goes by a few other names, including recommissioning (RCx) and continuous commissioning, and it can be as simple as adjusting temperature setpoints or as complex as comprehensive adjustments to the sequence of operations.

Learn more about recommissioning basics for school facilities from Marco Bieri, Energy Efficiency Engineer with Rede Energy Solutions.

Identifying the savings from continuous optimization

BC Hydro reviewed the energy consumption and utility costs of commercial and institutional facilities before and after implementing a continuous optimization program. Out of 422 facilities examined, continuous optimization programs were able to reduce average energy costs by 7.4 per cent. The typical payback for a continuous optimization program was under 2 years.

Recommissioning educational facilities

Nearly half of the facilities reviewed were education facilities, including 110 large schools and 86 colleges and universities. As larger and more complex facilities, colleges and universities tend to have a higher implementation cost but a higher potential for energy savings. The expected simple payback period for a continuous optimization program in educational facilities is 2.2 years.

Other types of facilities

Compared to other types of institutional and commercial facilities, educational buildings fall in the middle of the range in terms of size and potential for savings. Implementation costs tend to be higher for facilities with complex internal systems (including recreational and extended care buildings). Typical energy savings varies with size and implementation cost, but the simple payback period does not exceed three years for a continuous optimization program in any facility type.

Where do the savings come from?

A continuous optimization program is a cycle of monitoring, analysis and refining the operations of a facility. The refinements are often just small enhancements or improvements in efficiency, but altogether the changes contribute to quantifiable savings.

In addition to calculating the cost savings from recommissioning, BC Hydro also reviewed the actions that are typical in continuous optimization programs. The ten most common refinements are:

1. Reduce equipment runtime
2. Optimize economizer operation
3. Eliminate opposing operations (such as simultaneous heating and cooling)
4. Optimize supply air temperature
5. Optimize temperature setpoints for zones and setbacks
6. Eliminate unnecessary lighting hours
7. Optimize rates of ventilation
8. Volume control for pumps and fans
9. Optimize chilled water temperature reset
10. Eliminate leaky valves

Although these refinements are typical in commercial and institutional facilities, every building has different opportunities for improvements. But the cycle for continuous optimization remains the same: monitor, analyze and act accordingly.

There are opportunities for saving energy and utility costs in every facility. If you are just getting started with a continuous optimization program or looking for innovative approaches to further improve the efficiency of your facilities, contact Rede to learn more about the opportunities from recommissioning.

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School facilities staff are experts in working behind the scenes – or more appropriately, outside of classrooms. Even though facilities staff are not in the spotlight, their job is just as important for student success.

When schools are operational, comfortable and clean, teachers and students can focus on teaching and learning. Facilities staff have a direct influence on the performance, absenteeism and achievements of students in the buildings they care for and manage. Here are five ways that facilities staff in K-12 schools can improve student success.

Physical state of a building is a factor in academic performance

The same students with the same teachers would have different performance results in different buildings. Facilities that are designed for learning demonstrate improved student success, and green facilities are a natural step to reduce ongoing costs while incorporating considerations for effective learning.

A case study from 1999 explored the impacts of the educational setting on students’ performance, attitude and behaviour in the classroom. Researchers evaluated the test scores for district-wide tests for Grades 3 and 6 students, and these results were analyzed along with the condition of the school facilities. Schools that were newer or more recently renovated demonstrated improved test scores. The case study identified physical attributes of a school building as a factor that contributes to student performance.

Although upgrades and renovations can contribute to improve student performance, the researchers noted that the process to update a facility can cause a disruption to the school’s routines and physical interruptions to learning. Any major renovations should be timed when students are not learning to prevent the distractions.

Improved indoor air quality reduces sicknesses

Facilities with poor air quality or ventilation tend to have higher cases of student sickness and illness. When students are sick, they miss school or lack focus and attention.

The Environmental Protection Agency in the United States reviewed the academic literature related to student absenteeism and indoor air quality. Potential impacts to absenteeism can come from respiratory health effects that are associated with:

• Allergens or pollutants
• Dampness or mold
• Combustion byproducts including nitrogen dioxide
• Chemicals (such as from cleaning products), formaldehyde, moisture or dirt in HVAC systems
• Low ventilation rates

Common health effects from lower air quality include infections and asthma. Poor ventilation can also increase the transmission of infectious agents – a concern that is important during cold and flu season.

In addition to ensuring ventilation is adequate, regular cleaning and maintenance of HVAC systems reduces the spread of unwanted airborne particles. From there, cleaning and disinfection of surfaces can contribute to controlling the transmission of infectious agents and airborne particles.

Average error rates on math tests in classrooms with different air ventilation (from Ventilation Rates in Schools and Learning Performance, 2007)

Daylighting contributes to reduced absenteeism and sick days

Natural daylighting has the potential to improve student performance by reducing absenteeism and sick days. Researchers from California reviewed standard performance tests for students and compared the results to the amount of natural light in the students’ classrooms. After reviewing over 21,000 students from California, Washington and Colorado, the researchers concluded that the presence and type of daylighting has a strong correlation to the students’ performance.

The researchers provided four mechanisms that can contribute to the observed benefits of daylighting:

1. Improved vision from better illumination, colour rendition, spectral content, 3D modeling and a reduction of flickers from electric lighting
2. Improved morale from mental stimulation, alertness and a calming effect
3. Improved memory retention
4. Improved health from a circadian biochemical response to daylight

Adding or adjusting windows to improve daylighting tends to be a large capital project, so it is a consideration to include in new projects or major renovations.

Improve focus by managing noise

Unnecessary sounds can create interruptions. Managing excess or unwanted sounds (particularly sounds that cross into classrooms from hallways or other rooms) improves the learning atmosphere.

Sources of noise in schools was identified by researchers from Newcastle University in the United Kingdom in 2010. Noise leaks from other classrooms or from hallways is an issue of design and construction. Sound insulation can be added to existing facilities, but the optimal time to improve insulation is during construction and upgrades. Background noises from HVAC systems or other machinery can be mitigated with quieter models. Outdoor noises can typically be mitigated by closing windows, but that reduces direct outdoor air ventilation. Overall noise can be mitigated by amplifying teachers’ voices, whether by simply talking louder or using amplification equipment.

The researchers noted that managing noise can be in opposition with managing student comfort and air ventilation. For example, carpet can reduce acoustic interruptions but can impact air quality. In these scenarios, the need for hygiene, comfort or air quality often outweigh the need for acoustic controls.

The best time to consider noise is during design and construction of new buildings or upgrades, but this is not always possible. Noise management on a case-by-case basis can identify solutions suitable for the facility while maintaining air quality and hygiene.

Happy and healthy teachers improve student success

Improving the comfort, lighting, air quality and ventilation of classrooms reduces distractions within the classroom. And less interruptions makes it easier for teachers to do their job.

A 2011 review of Toronto schools concluded that occupants are typically more satisfied and comfortable in green schools compared to conventional buildings. Green buildings have better ventilation, air quality and lighting as well as more consistent air temperature. These physical components are associated with improved student performance and reduced absenteeism.

In addition to students’ satisfaction, teachers were also observed to have higher rates of satisfaction in green buildings. The magnitude of improvement in teachers’ satisfaction was not large, so the researchers acknowledged that building or retrofitting a green school should not be done just for the teachers. It’s an additional benefit of green facilities.

Absenteeism of staff, teachers and students in Toronto schools (from Absenteeism, Performance and Occupant Satisfaction with the Indoor Environment of Green Toronto Schools, 2011)

And of course, green schools use less energy

Reducing utility costs can open up funds for projects directly related to student success. Along with ensuring facilities are comfortable and functional, improving energy efficiency is the foundation of Rede’s work with Canadian K-12 schools. Together with facilities staff, we help teachers and students focus on what is important: education.

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Canadian K-12 schools are typically occupied in the cooler months, but the start and finish of school years can bring warm and humid weather. As the heat of summer extends into the first few months of the school year, optimize your facilities to create a cool environment without a large spike in energy consumption.

Heat waves difficult to ignore in Western Canada

Over the course of a school year, Canadian schools can experience weather ranging from frigid to scorching. Weather extremes in Canada can result in a range of outdoor temperatures upwards of 60 degrees.

Most schools have no students during the hottest months, but it is normal for the heat of summer to flow into the first few months of the school year. School districts in Canada not only need to prepare for cold temperature extremes but also heat waves.

Heat waves have been difficult to ignore – Western Canada has experienced record-breaking heat waves over the past few years. In British Columbia, temperature records were broken in 2017 and in 2018. Alberta has also had a record-breaking summer, with new all-time heat records created throughout the province.

Spikes in consumption and emissions from heat waves

Cool facilities provide relief from hot outdoor temperatures, but it is not without a significant consumption of energy.

Looking beyond consumption, heat waves can also directly impact power generation by reducing the generation capacity due to warmer air or water. In extreme events, generation capacity is reduced around 2 per cent for every degree Celsius (1). When combined with increased demand, this risks large-scale failures and blackouts.

Hot weather also increases the greenhouse gas emissions related to energy generation. Increases in summer-average temperature from 1˚ Celsius to 5˚ Celsius has a corresponding increase in electricity demand of 7 percent. Under the existing power generation system, the increase in demand causes upwards of 16 per cent increase in sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxides (2).

The impacts of hot weather extend throughout the energy sector – from generation to demand. At the facility level, optimization of cooling systems can reduce the demand and ultimately utility expenses.

Leverage cooler nighttime air

The need for heating vastly exceeds the need for cooling in most K-12 facilities in British Columbia and Alberta. However, cooling facilities during warm weather can become a top priority to keep students, teachers and staff comfortable.

Cool is not always a simple process in school facilities due to their equipment – many facilities lack mechanical cooling systems.

As temperatures tend to drop at night, cooler outdoor air can be introduced into facilities in preparation for hot days. Free cooling (which still requires energy for ventilation but not for conditioning the air) purges a facility with cooler outdoor air, typically at night. If occupancy is low enough during the day (which tends to be the case in the summer when there are no students and teachers), air handlers can then be turned off after a facility is purged.

Default approaches to cooling not optimal

When a facility does not need to be heated (particularly in the summer), there are two default approaches. One tactic is turning off all equipment to minimize energy consumption if the facility has low occupancy and does not require extensive ventilation. Another is cooling the entire facility. Both approaches are not ideal – they lack a balance between comfort and energy efficiency.

“Cooling can be more occupancy dependent than heating,” says Marco Bieri, Energy Efficiency Engineer with Rede Energy. In the summer, occupancy tends to not follow a routine. Then during the school year, facilities are typically conditioned when students are in class and cooling systems can be turned off after the daytime heat subsides.

For efficient cooling that keeps students, teachers and staff comfortable, cooling should align with occupancy. This is where communication becomes essential.

Communication is vital for managing hot weather

In Canada, heating systems tend to take the priority over cooling.

“There has been less money that has gone into cooling systems compared to heating systems. You need to understand and communicate what the capability is for your facilities,” says Bieri. Communicating the capability of a facility’s cooling system will manage expectations.

For facilities with air conditioning systems, setpoints and schedules should align with the building’s occupancy during the heat wave. As weather changes, setpoints and schedules can be routinely adjusted to match the occupancy needs and outdoor temperature.

“Keep communication open to have occupants’ trust that the schedules can be adjusted for warmer weather and then can be changed back when the weather events are done,” says Bieri.

Calendar reminders and weather alerts can contribute to ongoing tracking and adjusting schedules in parallel to school occupancy.

Prepare for heat waves with audits and maintenance

Efficiency of equipment is improved when it is routinely serviced, cleaned and monitored.

When facilities are operating under normal or extreme weather events, data from a building automation system can indicate opportunities for mechanical or scheduling adjustments. Analytics of building data during routine weather will prepare the building to respond to extreme weather. Get started with building analytics.

1. Añel, Juan A.; Fernández-González, Manuel; Labandeira, Xavier; López-Otero, Xiral; de la Torre, Laura. Impact of cold and heat waves on electricity generation. Economics for Energy, February 2017. (https://res.mdpi.com/atmosphere/atmosphere-08-00209/article_deploy/atmosphere-08-00209-v3.pdf)
2. Meier, Paul; Holloway, Tracey; Patz, Jonathan; Harkey, Monica; Ahl, Doug; Abel, David; Schuetter, Scott; and Hackel, Scott. Impact of warmer weather on electricity sector emissions due to building energy use. Environmental Research Letters, December 2017. (http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa6f64)

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Williams Lake, BC

With minor changes to building controls, Rede Energy Solutions reduced electricity consumption by 19% and gas consumption by 13% in a school in British Columbia in 2014.

How did we do it?

“People think energy savings is going to come from some crazy change or some crazy science,” says Marco Bieri, energy efficiency engineer for Rede.

“It’s not rocket science. It just takes somebody to actually go through and look at the data.”

This project in Williams Lake with School District #27 is still a highlight for Marco, who started at Rede in 2013. It wasn’t noteworthy for any innovative energy efficiency approaches or new technology. The thrill came from discovering significant improvements by “just finding errors.”

Marco reviewed the logs from the building automation system and then plotted and analyzed all the data.

“I just looked at trends and identified that schedules were broken on a lot of panels. Equipment was running more than is should,” explains Marco.

“Long-story short, the program was telling it turn off but it was not talking properly so everything was just on.”

Refining schedules, fixing errors and a few repairs to the equipment resulted in an annual savings of nearly $14,000. Here is a breakdown of the solutions in the first year:

The changes are evident when the data is plotted. This is the supply fan from the band room before and after commissioning, where the fan was not following the assigned schedule due to a programming error:

And here is the VFD that was not modulating:

Reviewing the data has created opportunities for savings at many facilities that Marco has analyzed.

“A lot of time, we find stuff like schedules that don’t work for whatever reason. Or an occupancy sensor is screwed up so the fan is always on.”

The best part – analytics is a problem-solving tool that is available for every facilities manager.

Interested in saving energy in your facilities? The next step is simple. Just send us a message and we can begin searching for opportunities to save your organization energy and money.

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