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Councilors press administration on how fund changes will help school HVAC and student comfort
Summary
Councilors asked how expanded demand-response revenue could be applied to older Boston Public School buildings to improve HVAC, air quality and resilience. Administration said the fund could help finance batteries, building automation, and heat-pump installations paired with capital projects.
Councilors at the Aug. 4 hearing pressed the administration on how the proposed amendment to the Distributed Energy Resource Revenue Revolving Fund would translate into better indoor air and thermal comfort for students in older Boston Public School buildings. Councilor Flynn asked specifically what could be offered to ensure older school buildings provide a healthy learning environment; administration officials said demand-response revenue would be one component of a broader approach that includes capital upgrades, building automation and battery systems.
Oliver Sellers Garcia and Chris Kramer said funding from demand-response enrollment can be deployed incrementally to make buildings more agile during hot days without disrupting occupants. "We would... install some, you know, a battery storage system and an upgrade of building automation system in a school," Kramer said, describing how batteries and automation can both increase resilience and reduce peak demand. Officials cited the Otis School in East Boston as an example of the kind of incremental improvements the city hopes to replicate.
