With each light bulb screwed tight and window replaced, the Oconto Falls School District moves closer to making a name for itself in the state.
The district is one year into a contract with a Massachusetts-based firm to make sweeping changes at its six buildings. Energy efficiency is the objective.
Oconto Falls is the first school district in the state to partner with Ameresco, and once the renovations are complete and the savings start to grow, the district will serve as a model for others, according to the company.
“We’re going to take the Oconto Falls district and use it as a … case study for school districts across Wisconsin,” said Kent Wolf, Ameresco business development manager.
Last August, the School Board pursued the energy savings contract as a way to complete upgrades without an outlay of funds, a goal that became more acute after a referendum, which would have provided $825,000 in additional revenue over three years, failed that month.
“My hat’s off to the School Board,” Wolf said. “They were very engaged in the project scope … and the goals of energy conservation down the road.”
Ameresco guarantees the district will recoup its costs through energy savings over the next two decades.
“I’m sure we’re going to save a lot of money,” said Kevin Judy, maintenance supervisor for the Oconto Falls School District.
Judy serves as a link between the district, Ameresco and the contractors hired for the upgrades. He said many of the projects were on his wish list, and he is pleased to see them completed.
“It’s good to get some of the older equipment replaced with some newer, more modern controls,” Judy said. “A lot of the stuff has been running well, but it’s not as energy efficient as the new stuff, so we’re happy to have that upgraded.”
Work began last summer with the replacement of the bell and public address system at Abrams Elementary. In the fall, a new roof was installed over the wrestling gym at Oconto Falls High School. Upgrades continued during the school year and into the summer, involving water heaters, windows, lighting, furnaces, plumbing — whatever lent itself to renovation to save energy.
“There were major replacements of systems that were beginning to deteriorate,” School Superintendent Dave Polashek said. “Ultimately we’d have to replace these things.”
By replacing the systems now, the district will save money, not just on its energy bills, but also in labor costs because the new equipment requires less maintenance, he said.
The renovations were originally scheduled to be completed in July, but weather delays and the daily busyness of a school environment moved the end date to September. Once the upgrades are complete, the next phase is monitoring the savings and training employees to use the new equipment and technology.
The scope of the project changed this spring when the School Board approved the purchase of laptops for all seventh-grade students. Money earmarked for computer upgrades was funneled to laptop purchases instead.
Wolf said it is too early to tell how much the district is earning toward its guaranteed savings. Summer is a low-use period in the schools, and the district will generate the most savings during the heating season.
In exchange for its service, Amerisco receives a 7 percent management fee, or $189,000. The district will also pay $16,707 over the first two years of the contract for testing and analysis fees.
In October, the School Board approved a $9.1 million package that combined $2.7 million for the energy upgrades with the refinancing of debt from a building project undertaken in 2000. The energy savings loan is scheduled to be repaid in 10 years, while the building project loan will be repaid in eight. The interest rate, initially at 4.4 percent, dropped to 1.94 percent. The refinancing package is projected to save $975,000.
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