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Madison County Schools moves to replace failing Monrovia Elementary HVAC; contractor pledges tax-credit offset
Summary
The board approved a recommendation to replace Monrovia Elementarys aging HVAC system after repeated failures and temporary rentals; contractor Schneider pledged a roughly $580,000 179D tax-credit rebate toward the project and said a phased, classroom-first DOAS + mini-split approach could be installed over the summer.
Madison County Schools on March 12 recommended replacing the failing HVAC system at Monrovia Elementary after two tower failures and an interim reliance on rented units that currently serve multiple classrooms. The board voted to approve the replacement as submitted, pending the school attorneys review.
District staff described years-old VRF towers at the school whose 20-year-old control boards are no longer serviceable, forcing the district to operate roughly eight rented units and place others in hallways to keep classrooms functioning. "We have eight classrooms down uh with portable units in it," the presenter said, stressing the urgency of a long-term fix rather than continuing rentals.
The districts recommended solution is a phased conversion to individually controlled mini-split units paired with a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) to meet fresh-air code requirements. Todd Smith of Schneider, the contractor delivering the presentation, said Schneiders engineers concluded the DOAS + mini-split approach balanced long-term maintainability, code compliance and classroom-level control better than either refurbishing existing towers or swapping to water-source heat pumps.
Schneider told the board the firm has delivered $24.5 million in savings to Madison County Schools on past work and that a third-party certification put a recent 179D tax-credit estimate at $580,000; Schneider said it would pledge that rebate back to the district if selected for the project. Schneider also mentioned possible TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) rebates and emphasized a fixed-price construction management approach to limit change orders.
Board members pressed for details on timeline, procurement and temporary cooling costs. Schneider said design and approvals are time-sensitive and that ordering DOAS and mini-split units now is required to hit a summer installation window; typical design time is three to four months, but the firm condensed teams to meet the schedule. The presenters estimated current rentals for eight portable units run in the low-thousands per month and that a full temporary school system could cost $20,000to $30,000 per month, depending on scope.
The board approved the recommendation to replace the HVAC units at Monrovia Elementary, with the motion recorded as approved by voice vote; the approval is subject to the board attorneys review. Next steps include contract review by counsel, DCM approval where required, ordering long-lead equipment and scheduling phased construction to prioritize classrooms so they have air conditioning for the next school year.
