The overall project combined several new additions at the middle school with the complete retrofit of the HVAC systems at both schools. During the design, West Plains Engineering kept its focus not merely on equipment replacement but also on maximum energy efficiency. The systems for both buildings selected were ground-source heat pumps. Some of the energy efficiency concepts integrated into this design were energy recovery ventilators for conditioning of all outside air intakes, variable speed drives on all HVAC pumps, and low pressure piping design. The individual ground source heat pumps were two-stage heat units with ECM motors and only the highest efficiency commercially available category of these were allowed to be bid for this project.
To allow the district to monitor performance of this system, the Building Automation System (BAS) was designed to datalog all energy used specifically by the HVAC systems. As part of our company’s ongoing commitment to our clients, we perform post-construction services as needed. The completed systems have now been in operation for several months and are performing well. We have already assisted this client in receiving several energy efficiency incentives. We also anticipate helping the district obtain the EPA’s Energy Star rating after a full year’s worth of utility bills are available. The general contractor for this project was Swanson Construction. The mechanical subcontractor was Ryan and Associates, while the electrical contractor was GPX Electric.