Energia
The School District of Philadelphia – Pilot Project I

The School District of Philadelphia – Pilot Project I

Philadelphia, PA

Project Overview

The School District of Philadelphia retained Energia in the Summer of 2016 to provide Technical Owner’s Representative services for an energy performance contract (EPC).

The District decided it wanted to proceed with a small sampling of buildings in a “pilot project” to gain a comfort level with the EPC process.

Energia systematically evaluated the efficiency, extent of capital upgrades needed, age, and geographical location of over 200 total buildings to ultimately come up with a strategic selection of three schools for the pilot project.

Energia worked with District officials to develop the final project scope and successfully completed construction by June 2020.

UPDATE: Energia is currently overseeing the development and implementation of the second, larger phase two project that will address upgrades across 12 sites.

Highlights

Preliminary Energy Assessment that was completed by Energia in the Summer of 2017 for the District’s 200+ portfolio of buildings.

This effort helped the District identify energy efficiency opportunities throughout their buildings. Additionally, Energia used this information to select buildings for a Pilot EPC initiative and solicited 9 competitive, site-specific EPC proposals from Energy Services Companies.

The Scope includes replacement of boilers at the Saul HS and Strawberry Mansion HS, Comprehensive LED Upgrades, elimination of pneumatic controls, and many more capital upgrades.

Four Examples of Energy Conservation Measures:

Interior & Exterior LED Upgrades
Elimination of Pneumatic Controllers
Window Replacements at Northeast HS
Boiler Replacements with Oil-Natural Gas Conversions

Project Statistics

Project Size

$23.3 Million

Guaranteed Utility Rebates

$163,000

Guaranteed Energy Savings (Annual)

$339,800

Reduction in Energy Cost

39%

Project Type

Guaranteed Energy Savings Act (GESA)

M/WBE Contractor Participation

56%

Completed

June 2020

CLIENT REFERENCE

Danielle Floyd, Chief Operating Officer
(215) 400-5627

BLOG

The Philadelphia Story
How One Major School District Arrived at Energy Efficiency
By Dave Newman, PE, CEM, LEED-AP, CEA,
Vice President, Engineering, Energia

This project has had impacts on classrooms and on sustainability, has created better, modernized, brighter learning environments to best support our students’ academic success.

Dr. William R. Hite, Jr.

Former Superintendent School District of Philadelphia