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Nelson County Schools
Project Information
- Project Location:
- Bardstown, KY
- Approx Contract:
- $6,000,000
- Status:
- Completed
- Structure Type:
- School / College / University
Scope Of Work
Nelson Schools among the most energy efficient school districts in Kentucky
CMTA was proud to partner with the Nelson Board of Education, in Bardstown, Kentucky, for two phases of Guaranteed Energy Savings Contracts for their schools. Totaling more than 820,000 square feet, these buildings were home to aging systems and significant problems, but CMTA was able to deliver solutions.
THE CHALLENGES
Addressing the issues and needs of the District without access to traditional funding.
Identifying low cost/high yield energy conservation measures across the entire school district, and leveraging the savings to fund significant infrastructure upgrades at 3 schools.
Managing the logistics, scheduling and coordination of multiple trades within the confines of a tight schedule of the school system’s summer break.
THE SOLUTIONS
In 2014, CMTA was selected to perform an HVAC renovation to Cox’s Creek Elementary School as the primary goal of the Guaranteed Energy Savings Contract. We analyzed each of the District’s facility energy profiles and existing operations, and started identifying opportunities for improvement. During our examination, our team discovered that the Nelson High School’s geothermal system was out of balance and was running very warm the year.
During a condensed two-month summer break, CMTA performed HVAC renovations to both Cox’s Creek Elementary School and Nelson High School along with other energy conservation measures across the District. At Cox’s Creek Elementary School, the existing hot and chilled water system was replaced with a geothermal system. The propane boilers and air-cooled chillers were eliminated, resulting in not only an energy efficient system, but a low-maintenance system as well.
At Nelson High School, CMTA was able to balance out the thermal loads on the existing geothermal well field by renovating the central heating and cooling plant, eliminating the boilers and chiller, adding a small cooling tower, and converting the entire school to geothermal heat without adding any additional geothermal wells. This innovative approach resulted in cooler loop temperatures the year, and brought the seasonal heating and cooling loads closer to balance, which is optimal for a system of this type.
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