The Comanche Independent School District (CISD) in Comanche, Texas, is implementing more than $1 million in facility enhancements designed to improve operations, comfort, and efficiency at the district’s four main campuses.

As part of that project, the Energy Solutions division of TAC will complete the work as a performance contract with the district. TAC guarantees that CISD will reduce its utility costs by more than $14,000 annually when the project is completed in the spring of 2009.

Located 120 miles southwest of Fort Worth, CISD serves more than 1,250 students in grades Pre-K through 12. The performance contract, the district’s second with TAC, provides energy management system upgrades, lighting retrofits, and new HVAC equipment.

“CISD had aging mechanical equipment at the intermediate school and needed to replace the old roof as well. We also wanted to have freezer and cooler temperature controls installed to prevent thousands of dollars of food spoilage in the event of a freezer failure,” said Rick Howard, superintendent of CISD.

According to TAC, performance contracting offers many long-term benefits for school districts, such as improved facility efficiency, occupant comfort, financial management, and environmental protection. Typically, new, more efficient equipment and upgraded facility automation systems maximize energy efficiency and generate utility savings. TAC guarantees the amount of savings performance-contracting projects will achieve and agrees to pay the difference if that amount is not realized.

TAC will install the newest version of its TAC Vista™ energy management system (EMS) to upgrade CISD’s existing system with new features and a user-friendly format. An important feature of the updated EMS is the ability to send an alarm to the CISD maintenance director’s phone if the temperatures in the coolers and freezers fall under the acceptable range. Other items included in the performance contact are energy-efficient lighting, such as T8 florescent lamps with electronic ballasts, and high bay T8 lighting retrofits in district gyms; new HVAC for the Comanche Elementary gym; and a new roof and new high-efficiency rooftop HVAC units for the intermediate school.

“TAC completed its first energy efficiency project for the CISD in 2002, saving the district a total of $236,677 in utility charges through July of 2008,” said Shon Anderson, vice president of sales, TAC Energy Solutions. “As we continue our partnership with CISD, students and staff will enjoy further benefits, including better lighting and improved comfort.”

Publication date: 06/08/2009