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Lexington City Schools to Cut $5 Million in Energy Costs

Published Date
  • Schneider Electric is enabling the school district to achieve millions in energy savings through a new Energy Savings Performance Contract
  • The project is self-funded through energy and operational savings
  • The Partnership includes the development of new STEM programs to give students new exposure to science and engineering principles

Lexington City Schools, NC, announced the beginning of a construction project with energy and sustainability expert, Schneider Electric. The project is financed through a guaranteed energy savings performance contract (ESPC) that is expected to save the school district more than $5 million in energy costs over the next 19 years. The project consists of several components, including HVAC and LED lighting improvements, to enhance comfort in learning environments as well as the implementation of STEM learning programs.

Due to budget constraints, Lexington City Schools was facing deferred maintenance challenges that caused heating and cooling equipment across the district to fail. To provide more comfortable environments for students and educators, the school district is partnering with Schneider Electric to implement an ESPC that will fund 100% of the upgrade cost over time through energy savings and will result in saved taxpayer dollars. The project will tackle specific issues the district is facing through the implementation of a new chiller at South Lexington that will be properly sized to cool the entire school, as well as five new boilers and a new cooling tower. The project also includes LED lighting upgrades, in addition to a building automation system upgrade, that gives staff the ability to better maintain the temperatures inside their classrooms.

“Providing our students and teachers with facilities they love coming to is at the top of our priority list,” said Dr. Anitra Wells, superintendent, Lexington City Schools. “We’re excited to kick off this partnership with Schneider Electric, which has been instrumental in improving facilities across the state.”

Lexington City Schools was honored with the 2022 Cleantech Innovation Award by the Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster (RTCC) for these energy-savings initiatives. The RTCC focuses on advancing the cleantech economy in North Carolina’s Research Triangle.

The savings and the broader partnership were also leveraged to integrate unique STEM learning opportunities into Lexington City Schools through a variety of programs including:

  • A behavioral rewards program called Volt Patrol that allows students to monitor power consumption in the school by ensuring lights, computers and more are turned off when they are not in use
  • Two solar picnic table for computer and tablet charging

“We’re always looking for ways to meet our clients’ needs outside of the traditional infrastructure upgrades, so we have created some really unique experiences we’re bringing to the district to increase STEM awareness,” said Graham Lewis, account executive, Schneider Electric. “We’re happy to be welcomed into the Lexington City Schools family and work with students and administrators to help them achieve their goals.”

Over the past 28 years, Schneider Electric has successfully implemented nearly 1000 ESPC projects across the nation, saving its clients more than $3 billion. This project delivery method helps publicly funded entities make capital improvements over longer payback periods and offers many long-term benefits such as improved facility efficiency, occupant comfort, financial management and environmental protection.

Schneider Electric has also been named the #1 energy-as-a-service company by Guidehouse Insights.

For more information on how Schneider Electric helps school districts tackle their top priorities with energy efficiency, please visit: perspectives.se.com/k12education