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Fairfax County Public
Schools Retrofit Generates
Energy Savings for Kids
W
hen the twelfth-largest school
system in the country decides
to launch a major energy-
savings initiative, they do not think
small. The Fairfax County, Virginia,
school system, located in northern
Virginia, includes over 235 elementary,
middle and high schools. Under a
program entitled Energy Savings
for Kids, the school system is
reducing energy-related expenses
across the board.
Beginning in November 2002, the
school system began awarding Energy
Performance Contracts in bundles,
with each bundle including up to
20 buildings. The school selected its
oldest buildings, which would produce
the greatest amount of energy savings,
to be the first to be retrofitted, with
newer or recently renovated buildings
receiving attention last.
Noresco, a national energy services
company based in Westborough,
Massachusetts, has been awarded
contracts for retrofitting or replacing
the school systems light fixtures,
improving climate controls and
HVAC management and, in some
cases, replacing old single-pane
windows with new double-pane
windows. In total, the projects are
expected to save the school system
millions of dollars in energy costs.
At the same time, higher-quality
facilities are expected to create
a better environment for teaching
and learning and lead to better
student performance.
William Mutscheller, the school
systems Director of Facilities
Management, describes the capital
improvement program as self-funding.
We are replacing inefficient and
antiquated building system equipment,
which reduces energy costs. Those
cost savings fund the new energy-
efficient systems. Once the school has
paid for the improvements, continuing
energy cost savings will be applied to
instructional programs.
Through Phase 4, the school system
has invested $16.5 million in energy
conservation at 60 school buildings
and an operations center, said Chris
Farren of Noresco. We estimate that
the work done to date will save $1.9
million a year in energy costs.







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POR
TRAITS
In the lighting portion of the project,
Noresco is replacing older T12
magnetic ballasts and lamps with T8
electronic ballasts and lamps. This
technology came into common use in
the mid-1990s and can dramatically
cut electrical consumption. In most
cases, the retrofit involves a simple
changing of lamps and ballasts in
existing fixtures. Both interior and
exterior lights are being upgraded.
Aged High Intensity Discharge (HID)
fixtures are being replaced with new
high-efficiency fluorescent fixtures
or retrofitted with a higher-efficiency
HID kit. HID fixtures in gymnasiums
are being replaced with T5HO
fluorescent fixtures.
All T8 and T5HO ballasts used in the
project are Universal Lighting
Technologies products.
This job requires a range of ballast
types, from low power to normal
power to high power, added Farren.
We chose Universal ballasts as one
of our equipment preferences
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At the end of Phase 4, over 95,000
lighting fixtures will have been
replaced or retrofitted at 60 schools
and approximately 75,000 Universal
ballasts were included in the
upgraded fixtures. Additional phases
will be undertaken in 2005 until the
program is completed.
Noresco uses an in-house group
of energy engineers to provide
a customized energy savings
package for each school building,
depending on the age, size and
configuration of the building and
its electrical equipment.
All work is scheduled for nights and
weekends. No classroom learning or
after-school community events were
interrupted or rescheduled during the
construction cycles.
The Fairfax project represents energy
conservation on a massive scale.
By making improved teaching and
learning conditions their primary
objective, administrators of the
Fairfax County Public Schools
are accomplishing their primary
educational mission while saving
millions of dollars and kilowatts of
energy in the process.