Project News

Navitas is pleased to announce that we are working with Center School District to help them improve their facilities and create a better learning environment for their students.

The Center School District is in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri and serves 2,700 students. It is considered a “boutique” school district in that it serves a diverse student population in a small setting. The district consists of one high school, one middle school, four elementary schools, and one alternative school.

Like many other school districts across the country, Center School District was faced with aging facilities, rising utility costs, and limited financial resources. They had a growing list of facility needs and did not have a clear mechanism to fund them.

Among the long list of failing equipment and other facility needs, the roofs at the high school and the middle school were leaking badly. The past winter season and spring rainfall had taken their toll and these roofs needed emergency repair.

We suggested a phased approach to the district’s problems. This allowed them to address the urgent need of replacing the roofs on the high school and the middle school immediately, without waiting for the in-depth study of the other facility needs. While the work was proceeding on the roofs, Navitas conducted a comprehensive investment grade audit to identify the other facility needs and develop energy conservation and facility improvement measures to address them. The improvements included in the phase two part of the project are lighting system upgrades, rooftop unit replacements and other mechanical system upgrades, building weatherization, building automation system upgrades, and kitchen equipment upgrades.

The utility & operational savings, along with several rebates, generated over $7.4 million that Center School District can use to fund the needed improvements. In addition, the district worked with their architect to create a master facility study, which was instrumental in the passing of a $48 million bond issue. By partnering with Navitas and leveraging the energy savings from our project with this bond issue, the district can implement over $55 million in needed facility improvements.

Navitas is pleased to announce that we are working with Cabool R-IV School District to help them improve their facilities and create a better learning environment for their students.

Cabool R-IV is a rural school district in southern Missouri about 75 miles east of Springfield, Missouri. The district has one high school, one middle school, and one elementary school. The district has done a good job maintaining the facility over the years, but time has not been kind. Like many school districts in Missouri, Cabool R-IV is faced with the challenge of aging facilities.

Of primary concern are the old windows at the high school, which are a large source of outside air infiltration. This makes it harder to heat the school during cold months and cool the school during those hot days at the beginning and end of the school year. The heating and air conditioning system at the high school is 15-20 years old and reaching the end of its operating life. This means that this equipment has an even harder time dealing with the problems caused by the old windows. To add to this school’s problems, the gymnasium roof leaks during inclement weather.

Along with dealing with the issues at the high school, Cabool R-IV wanted to find ways to become more efficient with their operating funds as well as their energy consumption. To this end, the district chose Navitas to be their ESCO partner. We worked with the district to help them decide which solution made the most sense for their facilities, their students and staff, their community, and their budget.

Our first priority was to deal with the issues at the high school. We are replacing or renovating the windows and reconditioning the roof to stop the air infiltration into the building. We are also upgrading the heating and air conditioning system to make a more comfortable learning environment for students, teachers, and staff.

In addition to this work, Navitas is also making improvements in the other buildings in the district. We are upgrading the lighting and heating/cooling systems in the middle school, elementary school, and the bus barn as well as the high school. We are also improving the weatherization in these other buildings to reduce outside air infiltration. Navitas is also installing a district-wide building automation system that will make it easier for the district’s maintenance staff to monitor equipment and deal with issues in a timely manner.

As a result of this energy conservation project, the district is able to take care of their most pressing and costly capital needs. They will save more than $1,700,000 over 15-year term of the contract and this, along with a community supported tax levy, will pay for the entire project.

Our project with the Pattonville School District was in the news recently. Channel KMOV4 (http://KMOV.com) out of St. Louis featured the piece on their morning show. It included interviews with a couple of students on why “going green” is important and how they were proud that their school district for their energy conservation efforts.

Here is a link to the video on KMOV4’s web:

Pattonville High School’s energy efficient upgrades leave more money to spend on classrooms