by Brianna Crandall — March 3, 2017 — Global technology provider Siemens has begun addressing significant infrastructure improvement needs at Tallahassee Community College (TCC) in Florida, considered one of the nation’s top community colleges, enrolling more than 12,000 students. Through a performance contract with Siemens, TCC will use new building technologies and make capital improvements that are designed to reduce energy use and operational costs. The total projected savings over the 15-year life of the contract include more than $8.6 million in energy savings and nearly $750,000 in operational costs.
Barbara Wills, chief business officer and vice president for administrative services at TCC, stated:
We are excited to make these changes at TCC. Although the College received an allocation from the state to meet some of our deferred maintenance needs, it was not sufficient to address some of our most pressing issues. However, we were able to close the funding gap through our performance contract with Siemens. We can now overhaul the heating and cooling systems and the lighting throughout the main campus and our service centers, while laying the groundwork to provide future students with access to hands-on training in the latest in smart building technologies.
With colder weather on the way, replacing the two failed boilers on the TCC main campus with four high-efficiency boilers was the highest priority and was completed in January of 2017. To prepare for the summer months, one new 500-ton chiller and one cooling tower will be installed, and two 750-ton chillers and another cooling tower will be refurbished by spring 2017. Lighting upgrades will also be completed in buildings and parking lots. Siemens will also help improve TCC’s energy efficiency and systems monitoring by migrating building controls to Siemens’ integrated building management platform, Desigo CC. Work on the project is expected to be completed by January 2018.
Living Lab for training
In addition to implementing infrastructure improvements, Siemens will assist TCC in designing and equipping a Living Lab, where students in TCC’s building technologies programs will be able to train on the new equipment in real-world situations. The concept of the living laboratory was taken into account at every stage of the development of the project, including spacing equipment out and rotating it in order to give students better access and visibility of how the systems operate. The program’s unique training approach is designed to help students succeed in the local and regional marketplace.
Dave Hopping, president of Siemens’ North American-based Building Technologies Division, commented:
Working with Tallahassee Community College is especially rewarding for us. Not only are we able to demonstrate the viability of performance contracting as a means to achieve significant energy savings through infrastructure improvements, but in this case, by working with TCC on its Living Lab, we will help support students who represent the future building automation workforce.
Siemens says it has helped its customers realize more than $2 billion in energy savings over the past 10 years. The company has implemented more than 1,000 guaranteed performance contract projects for its customers, updating thousands of buildings with the latest energy savings technologies. Its energy services and solutions range from energy savings analysis, to implementation of facility improvement measures, to ongoing monitoring and verification.
