Oct 01, 2009
Engineering
Boiler Replacements Yield Savings at Zeeland Public Schools
Over the past ten years, Zeeland Public Schools has taken actions to reduce utility costs through equipment replacement and instruction of staff and students. In 2004, the District had a Rebuild Michigan Introductory Energy Evaluation done on eight buildings. GMB A+E has helped the District incorporate the resulting recommendations through remodeling and addition projects over the past several years.
Some of the actions taken by the District included:
- Complete replacement of the existing boiler system with four new high-efficiency condensing type boilers at Cityside Middle School.
- Replacement of the boiler system with two new high-efficiency boilers at Creekside Middle School.
- Addition of one high-efficiency boiler to operate as lead boiler, supplemented by the two existing boilers. They operate when heating requirements exceed the capacity of the new high-efficiency boiler.
- New boilers tied into the district wide building automation system (BAS) controls heating, ventilating, air conditioning and lighting systems.
- Lighting system replacement with high-efficiency lighting and occupancy sensors at Cityside Middle School.
Director of Buildings and Grounds, Kelly Rademacher, commented, “Over the past ten years, Zeeland Public Schools has made a concerted effort to reduce utility costs. GMB Architecture + Engineering was instrumental in helping us design and construct buildings and retrofits with high-efficiency systems and components. Zeeland has been working at being energy-wise. The lighting retrofit and replacement of seven boilers led to a major part of our savings. Most of our HVAC and lighting systems are connected to a building management system that helps us to control schedule and save money.”