Month: April 2015

Lane County Hospital in Dighton, KS and BCS have partnered to complete electrical and mechanical upgrades throughout the hospital. The hospital had an outdated, unreliable electrical power distribution system that could not support newer medical equipment. Additionally, much of the HVAC equipment was failing so the hospital was facing mounting replacement costs.

“BCS identified the project goals, one of which was finding a cost-effective solution for the hospital,” says Donna McGowan, Lane County Hospital Administrator. “The improvements made during this project will allow the hospital to operate more efficiently and accommodate the newer medical equipment purchased to meet our patients’ needs.”

The improvement program included a cost-effective, structured financial solution enabling the hospital to fit the payments into their budget. Specific goals of the project include upgrading the electrical power distribution systems to make immediate Wye power conversions, which supports newer medical equipment and improves reliability. Interior lighting upgrades were also performed to produce energy savings to help offset the life-cycle cost of the program.

HVAC improvements included needed repairs on the chiller, new compressors, and recommissioning throughout the building systems. The upgrades and repairs will result in a reliable system that will save energy, reduce maintenance costs and extend the life of the major equipment by ten years.

The eight month, $260,000 retrofit project will not only address major issues with power and deferred maintenance, but it will provide the hospital a 12% energy reduction that will continue to generate savings for years to come.

The Derby School District and Building Controls and Services, Inc. (BCS) have partnered together to create a Strategic Energy and Maintenance Program. Over the past few years the district has experienced significant increases in energy, deferred maintenance, and repair costs across their facilities.  The $3.95 million program will provide the district with a turnkey solution to implement needed facility improvement measures that will result in over $280,000 in annual savings.

“One of the visions of the district is a commitment to overcome financial challenges of improving the district’s infrastructure,” says Tom Snodgrass, USD 260 Derby. “With the help of BCS, the district has set up project goals to reduce the district’s total cost of ownership and reduce energy and operational costs, therefore saving money for the district and taxpayers.”

BCS will implement advanced technologies to monitor, analyze, report, and provide complete transparency for the district’s facility’s maintenance department in order to improve the operations of the buildings while saving money. “This plan will also provide the district standardized building technologies and processes that will provide continuous life cycle cost management decreasing energy and saving money,” says Dave Mosby, BCS. “It’s utilizing the district’s and taxpayers’ money wisely.”

Specific goals for the Strategic Energy and Maintenance Program include upgrading outdated equipment at the middle school, reducing deferred maintenance backlog, and providing technologies to evaluate performance metrics in all the buildings.  The middle school will undergo a substantial steam to hot water conversion that will greatly improve comfort for the students and faculty.  Additionally, Derby Schools and BCS will create a five year strategic operations and capital improvement plan to prioritize and budget building HVAC needs within available funds.

Derby Schools and BCS have had a partnership for over twenty years and see this as an opportunity to continue the relationship. “BCS has helped us find a way to see an immediate improvement in building comfort levels, much lower energy bills and, most of all, grateful students and staff for improved comfort,” said Tom Snodgrass, USD Derby Schools.

The project started April 1 and is expected to be completed by December 31, 2015.