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Planning board approves $762,000 bond request for school HVAC controls
Summary
The Stamford Planning Board unanimously authorized a $762,000 capital authorization (Project 001435) to replace obsolete pneumatic HVAC controls in district classrooms with direct-digital-controls, citing energy savings and reduced maintenance; staff estimated a payback of roughly 15–20 years.
The Stamford Planning Board on May 20 voted unanimously to authorize $762,000 in bond funding for Project 001435 to replace aging pneumatic heating, ventilation and controls systems in school buildings with direct-digital-controls (DDC).
Catherine Malbaalbo, director of school construction, told the board the work follows earlier ARP and ESSER-funded investments and reflects a rebid and scope restructuring that reduced the construction base to $712,000 plus a 7% owner contingency. "We got the base of the construction bid down to 712,000," she said.
Malbaalbo said the new system will convert from constant-flow to pressure-differential flow and use digital control to reduce energy inefficiencies and operational costs. She said controls projects of this type typically show payback in about 18 years, and for these older pneumatic systems the payback could be closer to 15 years.
Board members pressed for the expected useful life and payback assumptions. A staff presenter summarized the energy-performance contracting experience, saying typical paybacks for controls are in the 18–20 year range and that the project also reduces maintenance burdens tied to leaking pneumatic compressors.
Ravi Subramanian moved to approve the capital authorization and Jeremy Linder seconded; the motion passed unanimously.
The authorization is to be drawn from the current fiscal-year bond; a staff memo attached to the packet notes the work is intended to protect unit ventilator coils, reduce the need for on-site resets and limit classroom disruptions during heating failures. No implementation timeline beyond the authorization was specified.
