Questions Answered

Every day we receive questions from school districts about the energy-savings process and what is possible to achieve through an Energy Performance Contract (EPC). Below are answers to some of the most frequently asked question. Please check back as we continue to update this page.

1. What is the Benefit of an Energy Performance Contract Over a Capital Project?
2. Best Practices that Other School Districts Have Used When Planning an EPC
3. Energy Performance Contracts Sound Too Good to be True. What’s the Catch?
4. Our Major Concern is Equity. How Will an Energy Performance Contract Ensure that…
5. We are Planning a Bond. How Do We Do an EPC in Parallel?
6. Should We Wait for an Accurate Baseline Before Starting an EPC?
7. Why Shouldn’t I Do Energy Upgrades In-House?
8. What Happens If the ESCO Goes Out of Business?
9. How Can an EPC Address Minority-Owned Business or Local Contractor Participation?
10. We’ve Had a Bad Experience in the Past with an EPC. Why Should We Try It Again?
11. We have a Behavioral Program in Place to Help Conserve Energy. How Does an EPC Work with That?
12. How Long Should We Measure the Savings Resulting from an EPC and Why?
13. What Happens if We Don’t See the Energy Savings that were Guaranteed?
14. Do You Have to Wait for the Summer to do an EPC Installation?
15. I’ve Heard EPCs are More Expensive. Why Shouldn’t I Do This Through Low Bid for Cheaper?
16. Who Needs to be Involved in the Decision-Making Process to Initiate an EPC?
17. What Kind of Upgrades are Standard in EPCs?

1. If Solar, or Other Efficiencies, are Always Getting Better? Why Wouldn’t I Wait to Do an EPC?
2. Will Solar Mess Up Our Roofs?
3. Why Isn’t Solar Going on Every Square Inch on the School District?
4. How Do You Determine Where Solar Can Go?