Johnson Controls is a big name in energy efficiency and sustainabillity – with more than 120,000 employees serving a range of customers in more than 150 countries. And the company – VAEEC Business Gold member and June’s Featured Member of the Month — is having a big impact across the Commonwealth.

The company creates intelligent buildings, efficient energy solutions, integrated infrastructure and next generation transportation systems that work seamlessly together to deliver on the promise of smart cities and communities. At its core, that promise is about delivering innovation that make people’s lives – and the world – better.

One area of focus is K-12 schools where Johnson Controls provides the building systems, equipment, technology integration and know-how to create and maintain safe & secure, quality learning environments. Plus they work with clients to identify innovative financing solutions to make these facility improvements with minimum impact on operating budgets.

This doesn’t just make financial sense. Students who are comfortable and happy in their physical environments actually have a better chance of doing well in school. In fact, reports show that students in well-maintained facilities score up to 10 percent higher on standardized tests.

That was the concern in Luray, Virginia, where the Page County Public Schools struggled to provide comfortable classrooms on hot early and late summer days – particularly in many unconditioned second- and third-floor classrooms. Yet installing a new HVAC system had not be possible financially. At least not as a traditional, stand-alone purchase.

The local Johnson Controls team developed a plan to fund the improvements through an energy savings performance contract. Under the contract, Johnson Controls guaranteed that, by making a series of upgrades to lighting and building controls across the district, Page County Public Schools would generate enough operational and utility savings to pay for upgrades and offset the cost of air conditioning the un-cooled classrooms.

“The guaranteed savings of an EPC is a great way to fund facility improvements, especially when budgets are tight. In many cases, it’s the only way these kinds of projects can get done.” – Whit Blake, Johnson Controls

The $7.5M project is guaranteed to save Page County Public Schools $10.2 million over 15 years, and included:

• A full LED lighting retrofit across eight district schools, guaranteed to save the district $193,000 annually
• Metasys® Building Automation Systems installed to control and monitor critical energy systems, saving the district $149,585 annually
• New HVAC systems to condition the air in previously un-cooled classrooms
• Replacement of outdated boiler and rooftop units

In addition to helping Page County Public Schools stretch taxpayer dollars and create more comfortable learning environments, the project itself has created a new learning opportunity. 
Through a web-based energy dashboard, students, teachers and Luray residents can access real-time information about the energy use and energy savings across the district, and the environmental impact on their community.

Read the full case study here.