“Our district has worked hard to be good financial stewards of our taxpayer’s money. We were able to implement an energy conservation program that has brought both our old buildings and newer buildings to be high performing schools. Making smart decisions, we are saving over $30m that has been utilized to improve our facilities and optimize their performance. The ongoing support and education from the data analytics has made a huge impact to our energy conservation success, facility comfort and maintenance planning. Over a year into our program we are seeing persistent savings that is greater than what was promised. All schools should find a partner like Navitas and do this. Real partner, real impact, real savings.”
Dr. Dan Clemens, Superintendent North Kansas City Schools
The Opportunity
North Kansas City Schools is located in a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. The school district covers more than 82 square miles, serves more than 18,500 students. There are 30 school locations, which include 21 elementary schools, five middle schools, and four high schools, as well as 10 support facilities. Like many school districts, North Kansas City Schools was faced with aging facilities, rising utility costs, and reductions in school funding. The school district had developed a long-term facility plan that identified over $200 million in facility improvement needs. They utilized bond issue dollars to meet some needs until they began getting close to their debt ceiling. There was just not enough funding to meet all their facility needs. As a solution to their problem, the school district selected Navitas to implement an energy performance contracting project. We were able to help them increase their available funds to meet facility needs.
The Technical Solution
Navitas performed an investment grade audit to identify the critical facility issues and develop energy conservation and facility improvement measures to address them. Through this process it was determined that North Kansas City Schools would be best served by taking a phased or staged approach to the project. Less disruptive work was completed during the school year, while the more disruptive work was implemented during summer break. The work included upgrading the interior and exterior lighting to with energy efficient or LED lamps and fixtures, HVAC equipment upgrades, the installation of a building automation system, water conservation measures, roof replacement, and building weatherization.
The Financial Solution
Recognizing the severity of the facility needs at North Kansas City Schools the community passed a $20 million bond issue to address some of the infrastructure needs at the school. Additionally, the school district obtained lease purchase certificates of participation in the amount of $23 million, which is paid with the energy and operational savings over 15 years. Together these funding sources provided significant infrastructure improvements to get them closer to their facility improvement and financial goals.
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