Energy projects update: ESCO phase 5 nearly complete, hard-to-get chillers delay final work

Operations consultant (Speaker 4) told the committee that the district's Guaranteed Energy Savings (ESCO) program is largely on track but faces two main outstanding items that affect occupancy and summer scheduling.

Speaker 4 summarized the ESCO program history and said phase 5 is mainly in recommissioning—testing existing systems and creating repair lists for operations. He said, "Phase 5 is just in the process of fully completing and, as I said, the only scheduling issue we have is when to do the chillers. I've become very pessimistic dealing with chillers," acknowledging the long lead times for chillers and the impact on schedules.

For the high school, Speaker 4 said the project replaces three chillers with two and requires a new control setup; timing could interfere with summer occupancy and may require pushing some work to the fall if delivery or installation windows slip. He said Schwenksville’s chiller deliveries are expected in mid-to-late April and, if on time, could be commissioned quickly, but the high-school replacement is a larger undertaking with greater risk of disruption.

The presenter also described two buildings running obsolete, vendor-specific legacy control systems that complicate maintenance; he noted ESCO 5 includes an Exhibit A that allows the district to expand contracted work within 24 months of the ESCO award but flagged that such expansions are owner-driven and not currently budgeted.

Next steps: operations will refine schedules with contractors and school leadership to avoid peak occupancy conflicts, explore costs for replacing legacy controls versus ongoing repairs, and bring any board-level procurement or contract amendments back to the full board for approval.