Weston officials outline HVAC, LED and other capital projects; North House heating/cooling flagged as priority
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Summary
Facilities staff presented hard-cost estimates for multiple capital items including LED lighting, a high-school locker-room HVAC replacement and a large North House HVAC upgrade; administrators said design work will determine final scope and timing.
The Board of Education on Jan. 27 received a facilities update that placed the district's aging North House HVAC system among the highest capital priorities and outlined costs for lighting, locker-room HVAC and a replacement public-address system.
Facilities staff said the estimates presented are based on contractor walk-throughs and material pricing rather than conceptual placeholders. Proposed items included a district LED retrofit (initial figure about $75,000 for lighting), Weston High School locker-room heating/cooling replacement (roughly $190,000), and a West Intermediate School VAV box electronics upgrade (about $165,000). The board was also told the three-school PA/bell system is estimated at $100,000 for phase 1 of replacements.
The largest item discussed was the North House HVAC work. Administrators said earlier engineering estimates (about $400,000) covered only adding split-system air conditioning and did not address failing unit ventilators and other building-wide needs. Facilities staff described a more comprehensive, like-for-like replacement of unit ventilators and an expanded scope to address gym and science-area air handling. "Something needs to be done about the air handling units," a district official said, noting that portable units and window systems currently in use drive humidity and maintenance costs.
Facilities Director Mike (last name not specified) said the district will issue a request for design and expects a more definitive scope and cost estimate by late spring; any major construction would likely be staged to start after the school year. The district said LED retrofits are being analyzed now and that Eversource incentives may offset some audit and retrofit costs.
Board members asked whether replacing failing local units with a centralized rooftop or air-handler solution would be more cost-effective in the long run; officials said the final design will determine whether ductwork and centralized units are feasible within the available space and budget.
No capital vote was taken at the workshop; administrators said more detailed design and firm contractor pricing would be ready for future authorization.
