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Maintenance director reports in‑house HVAC work saved Riverside Local roughly $165,500
Summary
At a Riverside Local Buildings & Grounds meeting, the district’s maintenance lead reported completing several HVAC repairs and mini‑split installations in‑house for $26,035 versus vendor estimates of about $191,577, a savings the district calculated at $165,542; staff also flagged staffing and electrical limits for broader classroom cooling.
At the Riverside Local Buildings & Grounds meeting, the district’s maintenance lead reported that staff completed several heating and cooling repairs and mini‑split installations in‑house, costing the district $26,035 compared with roughly $191,577 in outside estimates, which the district said equates to a $165,542 savings over the last year.
"From September 1 to June 1, we did 347 documented work orders," the maintenance lead said, emphasizing the volume of work handled by a small team. He said the district’s buildings total about 602,000 square feet and that national guidance equates to roughly one maintenance full‑time employee per 50,000 square feet, a ratio that would suggest the district needs about 12 maintenance staff but performs the work with seven to eight employees.
The presentation listed recent in‑house projects: mini‑split units for a tech closet, choir room, John R. band room and the lecture room. The maintenance lead characterized the $26,035 figure as the district’s in‑house cost and described the higher vendor alternates as budget estimates the district avoided by doing the work internally.
Staff cautioned that the mini‑split approach is a targeted fix, not a systemwide solution. Many classrooms lack the 220‑volt feeds or available panel capacity required for broader installation, and unit control (remote controls) and summertime logistics limit classroom suitability, the maintenance lead said. For a building‑wide solution he noted the district would need to assess completing chiller lines and installing an external chiller, which would be a substantial capital project requiring planning and cost verification.
Board members and staff said they will continue to encourage documenting requests in the work‑order system to improve metrics and track the full maintenance workload and associated savings. The maintenance lead and staff noted the presented line‑item figures were budget numbers and described the total‑year savings as the clearest summary of recent in‑house work.
The Buildings & Grounds discussion did not include any formal motions or votes on capital projects; staff said further cost estimates and project planning would follow.
