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School board approves concept to replace aging boiler plant after geothermal study
Summary
After an outside consultant’s lifecycle analysis, the board approved concept approval to pursue replacing the high school’s boiler plant with high-efficiency condensing boilers and a chiller, citing lower 25-year lifecycle costs and reduced maintenance complexity.
Energy Management Consultants told the Five Town CSD school board on Nov. 6 that replacing the district’s aging boiler plant with condensing boilers and an air‑cooled chiller is the most cost‑effective long‑term option for the high school’s heating and cooling system.
EMC engineers presented four repair or replacement options for the failed geothermal heat‑pump system: fixing the existing open‑loop geothermal plant; converting to a closed‑loop well system; removing geothermal and upgrading the boiler plant with a chiller (the consultant’s recommended option); or installing air‑source heat pumps. EMC’s 25‑year life‑cycle modeling showed the boiler/chiller option produced the lowest total lifecycle cost and ranked highest on the project scorecard.
“Your boiler plant is at its life expectancy and the condensing‑boiler option reduces complexity and maintenance costs,” an EMC engineer said during the presentation. EMC highlighted site problems that have degraded the geothermal system, including sediment‑clogged well piping, corroded pumps and nonfunctioning automated well controls.
EMC quantified operational benefits that influenced the recommendation: the boiler/chiller option was projected to save about 10,000 gallons of propane annually and to reduce the district’s carbon footprint by roughly 16% (EMC cited an estimate near 189 metric tons of CO2 annually). The consultants also noted the geothermal system provides only about 8.5% of the building’s heat load, which limited the value of investing heavily to repair the geothermal plant.
Administration asked the board for concept approval to advance design and budget planning for the recommended option (including related gym and Hatchery Commons HVAC items). The board moved to approve the concept and voted in favor.
Next steps: administrators said they will carry the concept forward into the budget process and develop a project scope and cost estimate for formal votes and procurement. The board will see design and budget details before any construction contracts are awarded.
