TAC announced that the Lucerne
Valley Unified School District (USD) in Lucerne Valley, CA, is completing
$374,772 in facility enhancements designed to improve operations, comfort, and
efficiency in three district buildings totaling more than 70,000 sq ft, with
the company’s Energy Solutions division completing the work as a performance
contract.
TAC guarantees that Lucerne
Valley USD will experience a reduction in utility costs of at least $38,000
annually as result of the project. The Lucerne Valley USD is located in the
high desert of southern California, 125 miles west of Los Angeles. The
district, which has six schools and serves more than 1,000 students, faced
extremely high energy costs, needed to update lighting, and wanted tools to
enable their limited maintenance staff to work more effectively. TAC offered a
solution that enabled the district to meet all its objectives.
“Not only was the lighting in
some of our schools inefficient and inadequate, the old magnetic ballasts will
be illegal in 2010,” said Gary Milligan, director of maintenance and operations
for Lucerne Valley USD. “We believe our self-funded district upgrade has the
potential to reduce district energy expenditures by 28 percent. We are also
pleased to have received a $35,000 rebate check from the local utility company,
Southern California Edison.”
Performance contracting is a
turnkey method whereby the design, construction, commissioning and performance
measurement are incorporated into one guaranteed fixed price. Improved facility
efficiency, comfort, financial management and environmental protection are
among the long-term results TAC delivers as the single provider accountable for
all aspects of the project.
TAC guarantees the amount of
savings performance contracting projects will achieve and agrees to pay the
difference if that amount is not realized. Typically, new, more efficient
equipment and upgraded facility automation systems generate the utility savings,
as well as maximize energy efficiency and improve occupant comfort. Performance
contracting projects are funded in a variety of ways, including general
obligation bond funds, maintenance reserve funds, and financing secured against
guaranteed energy savings.
The first step in TAC’s solution for Lucerne Valley’s facility
problems was a complete lighting retrofit, replacing T12 lamps and magnetic
ballasts with T8 lamps and electronic ballasts at the high school, middle school,
and alternative high school. To improve operations and maintenance, TAC
installed an EMS at both the high school and middle school. This allows
maintenance staff to accurately control and monitor mechanical systems from a
central workstation.
“The result of the performance
contract is an improved learning environment for students, a reduction in
utility costs for the district and more efficient use of limited maintenance
personnel,” said Wes McDaniel, vice president of TAC Energy Solutions. “And
because the Lucerne Valley USD used the money they were already spending on
energy to cover the cost of all of these needed improvements, the district did
not have to raise taxes or incur large debt.”
McDaniel added that TAC Energy
Solutions puts the needs of customers first and offers accountability on all
levels while providing turnkey solutions to reduce the energy and operational
inefficiencies of building systems. “To provide enduring performance, TAC
uncovers the causes of facility energy issues and focuses on diagnosis and
education to ensure that each project minimizes the customer’s risk while
delivering relevant business value,” he said.
