CASE STUDY
Licking Heights Elementary School
TYPE: Education
The new superintendent at Ohio’s Licking Heights school district thought the cost of heating and cooling all five of its school buildings was high, and one seven-year-old elementary school in particular had higher utility bills than the rest. Its energy expenses were double that of a similar school just down the road. It was also plagued by uneven heating. To keep warm, students and teachers in the far wing of the building often wore hats and coats during class.
Within the Licking Heights district, West Elementary School located near Columbus, Ohio was particularly problematic. It was losing more than 50% of treated air through air leaks in the ductwork. Several options for fixing the problem were considered. In the end, due to several factors including lower cost, limited disruption and a strong guarantee, it was decided to use Aeroseal duct sealing technology to fix the school’s duct leakage.
It certainly helped that the aeroseal solution would cost less and take a lot less longer to do than the other options on the table. But a strong guarantee and testimonials from other customers really sealed the deal. Once they saw the tremendous difference it made to both energy savings and system performance, we knew this was just a door opener. We are now looking at doing similar work for the other buildings in this school district, and as word gets out about the tremendous savings Licking Heights achieved, we are finding similar interest from other area school districts as well.
Dr. Philip Wagner, Superintendent, Licking Heights School District: “I am always skeptical about claims that sound too good to be true, so when I first heard about Aeroseal, it was originally, in my mind, the least appealing option. But after doing some research and learning about its use at other education facilities including an Ohio State University dormitory, it quickly became the solution of choice. In the end, this was one of the smoothest projects we’ve ever had done at this school. It came in within budget and on time. The results met every expectation and then some.”
The entire Aeroseal project was conducted over the winter holiday break. After break, teachers and students came back to a much better HVAC environment. For the first time, all of the classrooms were warm and comfortable. Thermostats were turned down. HVAC fan power was reduced.
With the ductwork effectively sealed, the school district estimates that it will save about $45,000 each year on its utility costs. The school also received a cash rebate of more than $27,000 through an energy savings program offered by AEP Ohio, the local utility company. The district is now looking at having its four other school buildings’ air duct systems sealed using Aeroseal.
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