FAIR LAWN, N.J. — CALMAC® has announced the installation of its ice-based thermal energy storage tanks at Sarasota County School District’s Oak Park School in south Florida, which now gives the district a total of 20 MW of energy storage among 36 schools. For over 20 years, the school district has benefited from the use of CALMAC’s ice storage technology and in 2013 alone achieved over $2 million in energy cost savings.

Oak Park School is dedicated to meeting the special needs of students from pre-kindergarten to age 22. With the CALMAC system in place, the school is able to store energy in the form of ice at night when utility prices are low and cooling can be generated and stored more efficiently. The ice is then used the next day, when temperatures and energy costs are at their highest, to cool students and staff. Oak Park is just the latest school in the district to embrace CALMAC’s energy storage solution.

The IceBank tanks are 99 percent reusable or recyclable and require minimal maintenance. The durable nature of the IceBank energy storage product has been demonstrated at Sarasota County School District. For example, Brookside Middle School was the first facility in the district to implement thermal energy storage in the early 1990s. However, in the early 2000s the structure was torn down and replaced with a brand new building. Instead of purchasing new tanks, CALMAC refurbished the previous school’s tanks for insertion into the design of the new facility.

“Any time we remodel a school we are able to save our tanks and reuse them,” said Cecil Peel, Sarasota schools manager of technical services. “We really believe in CALMAC’s IceBank product and energy storage solution, which is why over 80 percent of the district utilizes thermal energy storage. The school board has been extremely pleased with the performance of CALMAC’s IceBank tanks and so it was logical that we would implement it into Oak Park School. Thermal storage has helped us save 25 percent of our electrical costs. This money can go towards other sustainability projects and increase the amount of funds available for our students’ education.”

“It is important for schools to follow the lead of districts like Sarasota County and take the necessary steps towards a more sustainable future, and use budgets to pay teachers instead of utility bills,” said Mark MacCracken, CEO of CALMAC. “With the newest energy storage installation at Oak Park School, the Sarasota County School District is now able to store and shift enough energy to meet the cooling needs for approximately four skyscrapers. Sarasota is setting a great example for other school districts in the country that should be preparing to reduce peak electricity demands and meet more sustainable goals.”

For more information, visit www.calmac.com.

Publication date: 12/22/2014

Want more HVAC industry news and information? Join The NEWS on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn today!