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We routinely get this question as we assess buildings for potential energy efficiency improvements. Unfortunately, there isn’t an easy answer. There are many variables that need to be considered when contemplating whether a solar project makes sense for your buildings. In this article we discuss some of the more important questions to ask before adding solar generation on your facilities.

1. Electric Utility Rate Structure and Each Building’s Utility Load Profile

This is perhaps the most important variable to consider when determining the financial viability of a solar installation. In a recent project, we evaluated 12 buildings in a school district. Several of them had the same utility rate structure, but the maximum demand and number of run hours of each building varied greatly; which affects the cost of electric consumption and therefore how much the solar production value would be for that individual electric meter/building. We saw a huge variance in the effective solar production value for each building. In some buildings a 100 kW solar array would produce around $12,000 annually, and in other buildings that same size array would only produce $6,000 annually. Both arrays would have produced the same amount of electricity for the building, but we projected a huge difference in actual dollars saved.

2. Cost and Quality of Solar Panels

Good quality solar panels should generate electricity for over 25 years. Make sure what you’re purchasing is from a reputable source with warranties on production for 20+ years.

3. The Roof Under the Solar Panels

Often the best time to install solar is right after a roof project. Most commercial roofs should last over 20 years. Typically, we don’t see an increase in insurance premiums when our public sector clients install solar on their buildings. But speak with your insurance provider to make sure.

If your roofs are old or approaching the end of life that’s OK. We have seen clients include in a bid to remove/reinstall the roof once after the first 10 years, to account for eventual need for roofing replacements. This should just be discussed with your solar designer/installing contractor.

4. How Do I Pay for Solar?

Our public sector clients typically finance projects through their financial advisor. We have seen many ways this this type of project gets funded. Most recently, one of our clients used a lease-purchase with a 20-year term to fund the construction. Financed in this way, their return on investment was around 9-10 years.

Commercial sector clients would also be able to take advantage of renewable tax credits, which could reduce the capital cost of an array by 35%.

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About the author – Ryan Terry is a business development manager with Navitas. His background as a professional engineer and 19 years of experience in the energy industry help him bring a practical approach to developing strategies for public sector clients who want guidance in how to initiate an energy conservation program in their facilities. He can be reached at rterry@navitas.us.com.

Before retiring and joining the Navitas team, I spent 28 years in some form of education. I taught and coached in college before moving into public education.

I spent seven years as a teacher before moving into administration. I then spent 13 years as a building level administrator before taking on the role of superintendent at Orrick School District for four years.

As I look back, I often wished that someone had told me more about what to expect once I became a school superintendent. Many new superintendents have reached out to me asking for advice, so I thought I would share some insights.

Here are 11 things that I wish I would have known (or knew more about) before taking on the role of superintendent.

1. Always expect the unexpected. Understand that you can never fully prepare for the position, because something new will always come up.
2. Known more about construction, facility maintenance, and the financing that goes along with an improvement project. Ask lot of questions of your partner firms. They are more than happy to educate you about these topics.
3. Known more about school finance, especially federal funding like Special Education, Title and REAP. These are complicated funding mechanisms, but you’ve got to know them.
4. Make sure to understand what the goals of the board and community are for the district and understand that some people will have hidden agendas! Also know what the sacred cows are!
5. Unless you grew up in that district, you are NOT from that district. No matter how long you live and work in the community, you will never be one of their own!
6. Know who the main stakeholders are and befriend them quickly! Learn who the power players are in the school and in the community!
7. Understand the political climate of the district. It is unfortunate, but nowadays school curriculum has become a hot political topic, especially since the start of the pandemic.
8. Make sure to take care of yourself and your family! Remember that you are only human. Make sure to leave the work at work and do not bring it home! I know this is easier said than done but make you and your family a priority!
9. Give yourself time to make the right decisions. Unlike in building administration, you have a month or two (sometimes even a little longer) to make the right decision. Give yourself time to think things over.
10. Talk to other superintendents and ask questions. They were once in your shoes and will know a lot more than you and can give great advice!
11. Don’t be afraid to make the right decision! No matter what you do, you will make people mad. So always try to do what is best for students and staff of the district. You will sleep better at night!

Being a school superintendent in today’s environment is challenging, so remember to build a good support system and don’t be afraid to ask for help.

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About the author – Scott Archibald is an Education Consultant with Navitas. His background as a school administrator and 28 years of experience in the education sector help him bring a practical approach to developing strategies for school districts wanting guidance on how to initiate an energy conservation program in their facilities. He can be reached at sarchibald@navitas.us.com. 

Many school administrators face a daily struggle to balance their school budget in terms of paying for existing needs and finding dollars to implement needed improvements. K-12 schools spend around $8 billion on energy annually, making energy the second-highest operating expenditure for schools after personnel costs. This is more than is spent on instructional materials and computers combined.

Many school districts are also faced with aging facilities that require attention. The average construction year for school buildings in the United States is 1968. This means that many of our schools are over 50 years old. They have served generations of students well, but many are in dire need of improvements in order to serve future generations. However, without the passing of a bond issue, there is very little money in a school district’s budget for these improvements.

One answer maybe clean energy-related improvements. A well-designed energy efficiency and renewable energy improvement project can stabilize or reduce operating costs. These projects can include upgrades such as replacing lighting, adding insulation, replacing heating and cooling equipment, installing energy management systems and controls, adding solar systems, and replacing windows, doors, and roofs.

Clean energy-related improvements offer a range of benefits, such as:

• Lower energy consumption and bills
• Modernized infrastructure and reduced facility maintenance costs
• Improved comfort, health, and safety for students and staff
• Environmental benefits, such as bringing in more outside air into the classrooms

The Cost of Waiting Until More Money is Available

It may seem like a good idea to wait until the operating of capital budget dollars are available before implementing clean energy-related improvements rather than financing the installation immediately. This idea is attractive because if internal budget dollars are used, paying interest can be avoided completely. But delaying installation of energy conservation improvements delays the point at which energy savings can begin.

For example, if proposed project costs $500,00 (like when interior lighting is upgraded to LEDs) and has a 5-year simple payback, the average monthly savings will be about $8,333/month ($500,000 divided by 60 months). But if the school district decides to delay the project for 12 months, they will lose this savings and end up paying the local utility $100,000 ($8,333 multiplied by 12) more than if the equipment was installed immediately. That is a lot of money. In fact, the savings realized by installing the equipment immediately, rather than waiting for 12 months, would effectively reduce the interest rate for borrowed funds to 0%.

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To help keep kids safe in our classrooms, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends increasing the amount of outside air (OA) brought into a heating & cooling system. But is there a hidden cost to this?

The percentage of OA air brought into a building is a standard code requirement and varies depending on the type of building. The code standard for a school building is very different than for a manufacturing plant that uses toxic chemicals in their manufacturing process.

As you would expect, the temperature of the air outside is different than the temperature of the air inside the building. This means that when OA is brought into a building, it must be heated, or cooled, to match the temperature of the indoor space and keep people in that space comfortable.

Increasing the OA to an amount greater than what was intended in the system design will result in a heating and cooling system that is undersized, which may result in uncomfortable space conditions. This can also be harmful to the building because it may cause mold to grow since not all humidity is removed from the air prior to it entering spaces.

But there is a way to increase ventilation and still mitigate the impact on your utility bills. A demand control ventilation (DCV) sequence would vary OA amount depending on the total people in the space instead of bringing in a constant flow of OA at all occupied times.

The table below helps illustrate how a DCV sequence can help save money. Using a typical classroom as an example, this table shows the difference in cost between a code-minimum amount of OA (“Design OA No DCV”), OA brought in using a DCV sequence (“Design OA with DCV”) and bringing in 100% OA all the time (“100%”).

Note: This table is only considering bringing OA to a neutral temperature and excludes all other space loads required to keep the room at a comfortable temperature and humidity level. The red color denotes heating and the blue color denotes cooling.

As you can see, it would cost $292/year more to increase the OA to 100% from a code-minimum level. That might not seem like much until you consider how many classrooms a typical school building has and how many school buildings are in a school district.

This can end up costing a school district thousands of dollars more to heat and cool their school buildings each year.
This table also shows that the same school district could save a significant amount of money by implementing an DCV sequence. There is an extra cost to adding a DCV sequence to a system, but that cost will be recouped with the utility cost savings achieved.

If you aren’t sure if your building systems are bringing in the proper amount of OA, or if you don’t know if your system can bring in more OA, then you should consult a building systems engineer.

Making changes to the system without understanding the long-term effects can end up costing money instead of saving money and may be harmful to the system and spaces.

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About the author – Luke Lindesmith is a business development manager with Navitas. His background as a mechanical engineer and experience in the energy industry help him bring a practical approach to developing strategies for public sector clients who want guidance in how to initiate an energy conservation program in their facilities. He can be reached at llindesmith@navitas.us.com.