A cost comparison of FY 2012 to FY 2013 at Bonanza Schools. Courtesy of Klamath County School District.
With Klamath County School District bond measure 18-91, we hope to secure funding to not only build Henley Elementary a new, proper school, but also perform various maintenance projects and upgrades. In our last blog post, we highlighted (pun unintended!) the potential savings that upgrading the lights in 11 Klamath County Schools would bring. However, there’s another system upgrade that will bring more savings.
If you look at our Proposed Projects page, you will see that four schools are slated for heating system upgrades (five if you include Mazama High School’s control system upgrade). Sure, it’s easy to argue that obviously updating a heating system will save a few bucks, but how much money will it really save? And are those new systems really going to help the KCSD save any meaningful amount of money?
The answer lies in Bonanza Schools.
Last year, Bonanza Schools underwent a complete overhaul of the heating and cooling system. The school featured 75-year-old diesel fueled steam boilers to heat and cool the buildings. There were leaking pipes, which made rooms both too hot and too cold in the same day with other pipes threatening to fail. Not only was the old system inefficient, with the rising cost of fuel, it was also expensive to operate.
As a result, the Klamath County School District had the old boiler system replaced with an energy efficient, electric HVAC system in the old building while the newer building’s system was retrofitted with upgrades. The new HVAC system heats water from an onsite well which returns the water underground after it has ran through the pipes. To ensure the system would continue to function if the power goes out, a propane powered back up boiler was installed as well.
Aside from making Bonanza Schools more comfortable to learn in with cleaner air to breath, in the last year it has saved the Klamath County School District a lot of money. How much? So far, in FY 2013, the new HVAC system at Bonanza has saved KCSD $145,700.
Yes, $145,700. And the year isn’t over yet.
Not only that, Bonanza Schools, with the oldest standing school (built in 1935), has just received its Energy Star Certification.
Now, imagine if Chiloquin High School, Ferguson Elementary School, Peterson Elementary School and Stearns Elementary School – some of the older building in the Klamath County School District – received similar heating systems upgrades. There is the potential to save a lot of money for the school district, which in turn can be used for the upkeep of the 18 facilities under its watch.
The citizens of Klamath County, with some of the lowest tax rates in the state, pride ourselves on being fiscally wise. With that in mind, we need to pass Klamath School Bond 18-91. Not only does it fix roofs and floors and provide a new school for Henley Elementary, it will save KCSD a lot of money in the long run.
Information and graph courtesy of the Klamath County School District.
