The project, which will likely begin in March, will include new lighting, computerization of heating and cooling systems, new air-tight doors and ventilation louvers for the middle school gymnasium, and a well to provide irrigation for the high school.
Stimulus funding, in the form of a $330,200 grant provided by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), will pay for a portion of the project, says Piedmont schools Superintendent Matt Akin.
The remainder will be paid over a ten-year period with savings generated by the upgrades.
This new grant from ADECA turned a 15-year municipal lease into a ten year lease, which according to Akin, will save the schools more than $100,000 in total interest. Adding the $100,000 in interest savings to the original amount in the grant "becomes almost a half million dollar grant," said Akin.
The international energy management company Schneider Electric approached Akin last spring offering to conduct a study of the schools to determine how much could be saved.
"And it really grew from there," said Piedmont schools maintenance coordinator Mike Hayes.
Schneider brought in teams of engineers to the schools to record room temperatures and the brightness of existing lighting over a period of weeks. The company then used that data to make their 15-year guarantee of a 40 percent reduction in the school's energy budget, which could mean at least $90,000 a year for the schools. If savings don't add up to 40 percent, Akin says the company will send a check to make up the difference.
Schneider wasn't the only beneficiary of the data their engineers collected. Akin was able to use that same data when writing the grant to ADECA, providing concrete proof of the savings the money could generate for the schools.
"I guess it would be easy for us to sit back and say 'Well it's proration and we don't have enough money' but instead we take the opposite approach," said Akin. "We aggressively go after grants like this."
Of the 13 other Alabama school boards awarded the grant from ADECA, only four received more than Piedmont; DeKalb, Montgomery, Talladega and Tuscaloosa counties. "They all have ten times the kids we have," said Akin.
And the scope of the work is large.
Every room in all school buildings will receive new energy efficient lighting, with the exception of the elementary school, which already has the new lighting. Motion sensors and heat sensors will be added as well to ensure the lights will only be used when needed. Teachers will have an override button in each classroom to give them the ability to keep the lights on if they need to work late.
The computerization of the heating and cooling system will keep costs down by turning things off at the end of the day, and back on just prior to the start of the next.
The old gymnasium was built in 1961 and the new air-tight doors and ventilation louvers will help seal it up. The lighting in the gyms just aren't doing the job either. "The new lights in the gyms will basically be the same lights they use in the NBA arenas," said Akin.
With savings of at least $90,000 each year, plans are already being made to put the money to good use.
"School systems aren't in the business to save money," said Akin. "School systems are in business to provide the best education for the kids."
A master plan is already underway for the high school which includes a new science and technology wing, expanded extra-curricular activities that include adding softball and baseball on campus, a gymnasium and PE addition, and a potential stadium expansion. Akin and Hayes recently met with architects to discuss plans for the science and technology wing.
In the end, effective grant-writing and persistence can make all the difference. That's something Akin and his team know a lot about.
"This is a project we knew we were going to do," said Akin. "We were going to do it whether we got a dime of grant money, but we took the time and found the resources to apply, and were successful."
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