HAMPSHIRE, Ill. — When building a new facility for Hampshire High School’s 2,500 students, administrators chose to build green in order to:

• Create high-performance classrooms designed to optimize students’ learning environment, increase faculty retention, and help improve student test scores.

• Reduce energy consumption, benefiting the school, community, and environment.

It was determined that the best option with which to achieve these goals was Trane’s ice storage system. The engineering firm for the project, Metro Design Associates, performed a system life cycle cost analysis that showed that over the life of the system, the district can expect to realize over $1 million in energy cost savings. That number is based on current energy rates. If energy rates rise, so would the savings. At the current rate, the investment in the ice storage system is predicted to be returned in under three years.

The heart of the ice storage system is a dual-temperature Trane chiller. The chiller operates in standard cooling mode during the day and in ice-making mode at night. The ice is stored in tanks and is used to provide cooling to the building the next day during on-peak hours. According to Trane, this solution actually improves the reliability of the power grid by shifting peak cooling loads to off-peak hours. Off-peak electricity is also less expensive than on-peak, and because the most efficient power plants are running during the off-peak hours, there are substantial environmental benefits as well.

In addition to energy conservation, indoor air quality was a high priority when choosing the school’s HVAC system. Energy recovery modules (part of Trane’s M-series climate changers) will help keep energy consumption low, while allowing better IAQ with high ventilation rates, improving the school’s environment for students, faculty, and staff.

The job is scheduled to be completed by August 2008.

For more information, visit www.trane.com.

Publication date: 07/30/2007