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Perkiomen Valley SD to Fast‑Track High School Chiller Replacement After Failure
Summary
District officials said a main board failure left the high school operating on one of three chillers; staff will fast‑track the ESCO 5.0 project with no additional cost to the district and expect a partial restoration in 1½–2 weeks and full capacity by mid‑October.
Perkiomen Valley School District officials said they will accelerate an already planned ESCO 5.0 project after a failure of chiller number 2 at the high school left the building operating on one of three units.
“We basically shut down parts of the building,” said Mister Fabrizio. “The building is running on 1 out of 3 chillers, which it cannot do effectively.” Fabrizio said technicians have contracted with Carrier and will remove all three chillers to install a new, more efficient unit and run weekend and night hours until the work is complete.
District finance leadership told the board the replacement work was included in the ESCO 5.0 contract and required no additional district funding. Officials described the alternative as locating parts for the obsolete board — an option estimated at roughly $100,000 — and said they chose replacement as the more practical path.
Mister Fabrizio said crews expect one new chiller to be operational in about 1½–2 weeks. “After that, October 15th, we’ll get chiller the 2nd chiller up and running to full capacity,” he said. In the interim the district will deploy large fans and dehumidifiers, run rooftop units continuously, and close off portions of the building where cooling is ineffective.
Superintendent Dr. Russell and finance committee members emphasized communication and contingency planning for students and staff while the work is underway. No formal vote was required; the board received the update during the finance committee report and acknowledged the plan to move forward.
Next steps: work to install and commission replacement equipment is underway, with officials projecting staged restoration of cooling through mid‑October.
