Fairfield Union School District board members were told that the district’s new chiller installations are complete but troubleshooting at Rushville Middle School found an original pump motor was underperforming, causing alarms and extra work to tune controls.

Mister Belvieu, presenting district updates, told the board that Trane, the chiller manufacturer, and contractors installed the chillers and were on site to correct issues. “We made the decision to pay a little bit more for a longer warranty,” Belvieu said, “but also just the product of Trane…they sent an executive in to meet with myself and Verigee and CBSI to make sure we were all on the same page.”

Why it matters: the motor problem reduced coolant flow and forced the new chillers into repeated alarms until flow was measured and corrected. Belvieu said the motor originally installed when the building opened was rated at about 350 gallons per minute but was actually pushing about 250 gpm when measured during the installation. He said contractors installed temporary meters to find the problem and that the new motor had already been ordered.

Board and staff context: Belvieu said the district chose the contractor (referred to in the meeting as Verigee, previously Dynamics in an earlier energy project) because the firm had accepted fixed pricing and performance guarantees on a prior energy-conservation project. That arrangement, Belvieu said, meant the contractor and its subcontractors covered additional corrective work rather than billing the district. “We haven't received one change order,” he said. He reported the contractors agreed to cover the cost of the replacement motors, which he estimated at roughly $5,000 each.

Details discussed: Belvieu described how the original motor’s underperformance had likely forced the previous chiller to run harder for years, and that Trane specialists were flown in to ensure the new units were configured correctly for maximum energy efficiency. The district will measure other original motors across buildings; Belvieu said the remaining motors are 13–15 years old and staff may at some point elect to replace additional motors to improve efficiency.

Next steps and limits: the vendors will install the replacement motor at Rushville Middle School and will measure flow in other buildings. Belvieu stressed contractors agreed to cover corrective work for issues uncovered during installation. No formal board action specific to the chillers was taken at the meeting; the topic was presented as an informational update.