by Shane Henson — September 7, 2012—Ameresco Inc., an energy efficiency and renewable energy company serving a variety of customers nationwide, recently announced that it was instrumental in helping Ohio’s Cloverleaf School District achieve its energy efficiency goals through the use of an energy savings performance contract (ESPC).
The $1.2 million project completed by Ameresco, which included energy-efficient infrastructure upgrades at four facilities, is expected to help the district save more than $102,000 in energy and operational costs annually for the duration of the 15-year contract. No additional money was spent by the district on these upgrades. Per the ESPC, Ameresco provides a financial guarantee that the cost of the high-efficiency equipment will be paid for over time through energy savings.
The ESPC focused on reducing the overall electrical and natural gas usage of the district through the installation of energy-efficient technologies, as well as through implementing modern energy management practices with advanced automation technology. The four district facilities that received upgrades include Cloverleaf High School, Cloverleaf Middle School, Cloverleaf Recreation Center, and the district’s transportation center and bus garage.
As part of the ESPC, Ameresco designed, implemented, and will now operate and monitor the following energy conservation measures throughout the four facilities for the district:
- Occupancy sensing light switches
- Lighting upgrades
- Building automation system upgrades and expansion
- Domestic hot water boiler replacements
- Heating hot water boiler replacements
- High-efficiency boilers at all heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) demand levels
Ameresco has a strong track record of partnering with school districts and educational institutions across the nation to help them apply their strained budgets wisely and facilitate needed improvements of their energy infrastructure, the company says. The increasingly popular ESPC financing model allows the customer to immediately reap the benefits of increased energy efficiency in a budget-neutral manner by guaranteeing the reduction in costs will exceed the initial investment of the project.
