Evergreen Public Schools in Clark County serves over 20,000 students across 38 buildings. Providing a quality learning environment for such a large population is a big undertaking, which is why the school district frequently looks for energy-saving opportunities.

Evergreen Public Schools faced a pressing energy-efficiency challenge: outdated heating and cooling systems at many of its schools. Aging HVAC equipment caused fluctuating temperatures in classrooms, along with high repair costs and energy usage. The school district’s maintenance director was eager to address this issue, and the passing of a district-wide bond for capital renewal provided the necessary funding for the district to start making widespread updates.

Leveraging knowledge from past energy-efficiency efforts and their existing relationship with Energy Trust of Oregon and NW Natural, Evergreen Public Schools installed energy-saving commercial condensing gas boilers and tank water heating systems in 17 schools. The new equipment, which qualified for $185,000 in cash incentives from NW Natural and Energy Trust, made classrooms more comfortable with increased temperature control while reducing energy consumption and costs.

The school district will save approximately $49,500 on utility bills annually thanks to this project. The bill savings will help the school district stretch their bond further across their capital improvement plan to serve students and staff to the fullest.