Students at Pittsburg High School will be among the first to benefit from renovations funded by a $31 million bond issue approved by voters in March.
A new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system is being installed this summer at the high school. It will be completed by the start of school in mid-August.
The renovation work is one of eight projects to be funded by the bond issue. The first phase has a budget of $6.5 million.
"They're predicting that we should save about $125,000 a year electrically out here," said Destry Brown, superintendent of schools. "We're hoping that it comes through. If it doesn't, even if it stayed flat, it will be a lot better environment than what we have now. Either way, we're going to be upgrading our educational environment in the district and in this building in particular."
The original heating and air-conditioning units were installed in 1979. Recent Pittsburg High School graduate Aspen Lloyd said that the roof would often leak, even when it wasn't raining.
"It could be completely sunny outside, but because the air conditioning was on, we'd have buckets all in the hallways and giant trash cans filled with water from it leaking," Lloyd said. "It was rough. I think the school renovations are exciting, and I wish I could've experienced it."
The new HVAC system is being installed by Trane Building Advantage. Craig Grosser, project manager, said the project includes the replacement of plastic piping with steel pipes, which are more efficient and follow fire code safety standards. Grosser said 79 heat pumps will be replaced by 50 units.
"They were having to replace these heat pumps, and a lot of them are 38-year-old units, so they've been in the process of replacing a few each year," Grosser said. "It just got to the point where it was too costly. They stopped doing that about two years ago because they knew they were going to try and do this project."
During the school year, the second phase of the HVAC installation will be completed in the 600-609 hallways of the high school. They will be blocked off for safety. Students will be able to access the 600 hallway classrooms from outside the building. The old lines will be replaced, and all existing light fixtures will be upgraded to LED light bulbs.
"The total savings for the heating, cooling and lighting is $185,000 a year, and that's just purely operating the building as they always have -- it's just that the technology has advanced to where we can operate much more efficiently," said Chad Remboldt, strategic programs consultant at Trane.
The school will have electric meters on its two power services to the building, which will be connected into a new control system. The district will have more control over its energy usage, be able to read the usage in real time and control it from a remote location.
Grosser referred to the downstairs boiler room as "the heart of the operation." The boiler will be replaced with two smaller units for efficiency. The piping will be redone and replaced, then connected to the main building.
"This is where heat is added to the system as it's needed," Grosser said. "If they need to cool or take heat away from the loop, there's a cooling tower on the south side of the building and a heat exchanger, so that will help take heat off of the system."
Other projects funded by the bond issue include: FEMA-certified safe rooms at the Family Resource Center and all four elementary schools; a weight room, new gymnasium and equipment and locker rooms that will double as a safe room at the middle school; upgrades to the lighting, classroom remodeling, a new band room, scene shop and administrative offices, entryway improvements and a new cafeteria/kitchen that will also serve as a safe room at the high school.
"Lakeside was in desperate need of a new cafeteria and storm shelter, so that it is definitely something that I'm looking forward to," said Rachel Lenard, library aide at Lakeside Elementary. "I think the community is making a good investment with the bond and the safety of having storm shelters at every school."
Stacey Day, mother of two Pittsburg middle school students, said the renovation projects are a good investment in the future of Pittsburg students.
"I really think the school renovations are a good idea, and it's a big upgrade," Day said. "I know that they're adding a new gymnasium, which will be accessible to handicapped students. I really think it's a big bonus to include everybody. You're investing in your kids, and you're not excluding anybody."
Learning opportunity
Trane's public and private partnership with the school district will provide educational programs for high school students by providing hands-on experience through educational programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
"The students will be engaged in project-based learning that is both rigorous and relevant and provides awareness into STEM-based careers," said Sara Holmes, educational programs consultant for Trane. "Throughout this process with these units, the students are going to get information from the actual building that they're in -- data analytics -- and we're going to use the building as living, learning laboratories, so students can get engaged in what's going on around them.
"We want to use the investment that the district's made and get the students involved," she said. "They'll be learning about the whole HVAC system."
