AIA Bulletin

 The Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) has begun the process of merging staff with the Ohio Architect’s Office under a new Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) that was created to oversee state building projects under HB487 (Amstutz), the Mid-Biennium Review bill. 

Office of Budget and Management (OBM) Director Tim Keen, who serves as chair of the OSFC, laid out the process for the merging of the staffs during Thursday’s OSFC meeting. Under the administration’s plans, both staffs would serve under the OFCC banner with one executive director overseeing the agency. The OFCC would also have an oversight commission made up of the OBM Director, the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) director and an appointment made by the governor. 

Keen also said the plan is to keep some of the functions of OSFC separate to recognize the importance of the state’s school construction program. The school facilities commission would still exist as it is currently constituted under state law, but under resolutions passed by the commission Thursday, the panel would not approve contracts as it currently does. Instead, that authority would fall to the OFCC executive director, and the OSFC would have a “policy making, policy setting and oversight role.” 

Both commissions would meet quarterly, likely on the same day back-to-back. Keen said that an organizational meeting of the new OFCC would be held on Sept. 10, the effective date of portions of HB487, and an executive director would be named then by the OFCC. OSFC’s final meeting this year will be held on Oct. 25. The 2013 calendar includes meetings set for Jan. 24, April 25, July 11 and Oct. 24. 

“Essentially we will have that one contracting process, one set of documents, one set of procedures that will cover both school facilities and the other facilities generally,” Keen has said. “The School Facilities Commission continues to exist, and will continue to meet to provide broad, programmatic oversight, to provide programmatic direction, to provide policy direction, on the school program. The Facilities Construction Commission will provide that on all the non-school programs.” 

He said the merger will occur “pretty promptly” with pre-planning already underway. Staffs of the OSFC and the state architect’s office are expected to move into a new space in the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation building in November. 

The School Facilities Commission also discussed possible changes to its energy conservation program, more commonly known as the HB264 Program after the implementing legislation passed in the mid-1980s. 

The discussion was prompted during a presentation on two more awards under the program when DAS Director Bob Blair asked about what is being done to promote the program and how school districts find possible savings. 

OSFC Executive Director Richard Hickman said that currently, many school districts are approached by an energy consultant who may promote projects that can be performed with savings to pay off the debt of those projects. He said the OSFC has begun reviewing that process and is planning to present the commission with a report by the end of the year. He noted that current law for state agencies requires a contractor to pay the state for savings not realized by the projects, but that is not the case for school projects in the HB264 program.  

After the meeting, Hickman said that the review will look at how the energy conservation contracting process works for state agencies and for school facilities, and will look for common ways to improve and streamline the process. He also said the review will look to see if it is better to have school districts require energy consultant to guarantee the savings in the contract like state agencies currently require. 

“It will take some analysis. It will take some discussion with organizations that represent school districts — there’s the School Boards Association, there’s the Buckeye Association of School Administrators — that represent various aspects of school administration. We won’t do this in isolation,” Hickman said. 

He said there currently is no competitive requirement for contracts awarded through the program, and that is one thing the review will focus on. 

“There’s a lot of aspects we need to look at, and if we can conform that and make them very similar without creating other issues, that’s what we’re looking for,” he said. Hickman said some changes may require legislation. 

In other action, the commission approved a resolution updating the exceptional program guidelines to conform it with SB316 (Lehner), and heard a presentation on OSFC’s update to its vision and mission to reflect the current direction of the commission. It also approved more than $22.5 million in construction trade contracts. The 37 contracts were for work in 20 school districts.

The historically high number of school levies on the Aug. 7 ballot proved no more fruitful than years past with 31% of issues approved by voters.

The August special election featured 36 school tax issues around Ohio, which is a high for August elections over the past five years, according to Support Ohio Schools. Eleven of those issues received majority support.

Of the 26 additional operating levies, six passed at a rate of 23%. Six of seven renewals were successful, and all three school construction issues failed as did a permanent improvement levy, the group reported.

August special elections are plagued by low turnout as voters are often on vacation, so low passage rates have been the norm.

“August election results followed a typical pattern with districts experiencing limited success,” Ohio School Boards Association Director of Legislative Services Damon Asbury said in a release. “The major take-away is that districts must still continue to try due to budget shortfalls.”

The 23% rate for additional operating funds, however, is below the historical average of 35%, Support Ohio Schools said. That figure is double last year’s August passage rate of 10.5% but a drop from the 46% passage rate of those issues in March.

“Wild swings in election results are becoming the norm,” SOS Executive Director Jerry Rampelt said. “Even in this election there are surprising results. Groveport Madison in the Columbus area and Brecksville Broadview Heights just south of Cleveland had over 70% of the electorate support their levies.

“Contrast this to the 18% positive vote in the Jefferson Local Schools near Ashtabula and 14% positive vote in Osnaburg Schools near Canton. Both Brecksville and Groveport have had recent difficulties in passing levies. The one vote loss (222 to 223) in Jackson Center Local Schools in Shelby County was disheartening.”

OSBA sees the increase in overall school levy requests as related to decreases in state funding, declining revenues and a lackluster economy.

“Ohio public schools are facing unprecedented funding challenges,” OSBA Executive Director Rick Lewis said. “In many cases, school districts have no choice but to turn to their communities to help maintain the high-quality instruction and services residents have come to expect.”

Greg Lawson, Buckeye Institute statehouse liaison and policy analyst, said the levy results are a “resounding message” from taxpayers.

“Clearly, taxpayers have yet to be convinced that many school districts are making the kind of reforms necessary to justify digging deeper in their wallets,” he said in an email. “This even after the ‘sky is falling’ mantra that is being pushed across the state.

“The bottom line is that failure to reform collective bargaining last year does not mean that reform is no longer needed. District officials and school boards should be the first ones demanding changes instead of complaining about Columbus politicians.”

The Ohio Municipal League said school levies faired better that local tax requests from communities. Twenty one of the tax issues were for police and/or fire, emergency medical services, road repair or local government operations.

“Our folks continue to struggle with getting voters’ approval to increase income tax rates to even do some special levies,” OML spokesman Kent Scarrett said in an interview. “We’ve known that our residents are just at their limit of taxation and it’s going to be difficult next year when we see greater cuts in the local government fund and the phase out of the estate tax.

“The trend right now obviously isn’t where tax payers are willing to increase these levels,” which makes circumstances more difficult for local governments.

Voters approved less than one third of all school funding proposals on Tuesday’s ballot, though the 31.5 percent passage rate was actually an improvement over last year’s special election. Several school districts in two of Ohio’s largest counties succeeded in passing levies by a wide margin, while a pair of new funding packages in Summit County failed.Of 35 total funding proposals in the form of levies, bonds, income taxes, or some combination of the three, local voters approved 11 packages. Franklin County saw $7.7 million in new funding for Groveport Madison Local Schools, where residents passed a 9.96 mill continuing levy with over 70 percent of the vote. The margin was even greater in Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District in Cuyahoga County, where voters renewed a three-year combination levy for permanent improvements and operating expenses — 1 mill and 5.8 mills, respectively — with nearly 74 percent of the vote.The latest available information from the Ohio School Boards Association Wednesday added the following wins:– Bethel Local Schools, Miami County: 2 mill renewal over five years for permanent improvements, with 57 percent of the vote; new “replacement” funding of 7 mills over five years for operating expenses, with 52 percent of the vote.
– Buckeye Local Schools, Medina County: new emergency funding of 7.9 mills over five years for operating expenses, with nearly 63 percent of the vote.
– Clear Fork Valley Local Schools, Richland County: new income tax of 1 percent over five years for operating expenses, with less than 52 percent of the vote.
– Dalton Local Schools, Wayne County: 2 mill renewal levy over five years for permanent improvements, with nearly 56 percent of the vote.
– Lake Local Schools, Wood County, new funding of 6.75 mills over three years for operating expenses, with 52 percent of the vote.
– Margaretta Local Schools, Erie County: 1.5 mill renewal levy over five years for permanent improvements, with nearly 54 percent of the vote.That compares to an August 2011 passage rate of roughly 26 percent. Buckeye Valley Local School District in Delaware County failed to pass a combination of new income taxes and bonds — .25 percent over five years and 3.5 mills over 28 years, respectively — pulling barely 28 percent of the vote. The package would have cost taxpayers $30 million.Edon Northwest Local Schools in Williams County and Jackson Center Local Schools in Shelby County also failed to pass new income taxes. Jackson Center failed by a single vote, according to OSBA, setting up a possible recount, while Edon Northwest drew a respectable 38 percent in favor of the combination income tax and levy.“The one vote loss (223 to222) in Jackson Center Local Schools in Shelby County was disheartening,” said Executive Director Jerry Rampelt of Support Ohio Schools Research and Education Foundation.All three school construction issues on the ballot also failed.“August school levies traditionally have a low passage rate,” Support Ohio Schools said in a statement, noting the 20.8 percent rate for “additional” operating funds is below the historical average of 35 percent while nearly double the August 2011 rate of 10.5 percent.  “It is a steep decline, however, when compared to the 46 percent passage rate of additional operating issues in March of 2012.”Support Ohio Schools said it considers a school levy as new or additional if it generates more revenue and does not renew an existing levy. It also noted reported results are the latest available and not official results certified by the Ohio Secretary of State.

More than 15 years after its creation, the Ohio School Facilities Commission has invested nearly $10 billion in state and local funds to replace and repair school buildings once rated the worst in the nation.

“As it stands, we’re about half done,” said Richard Hickman, executive director of the commission.

“If we are able to fund about 25 districts each year and those districts are able to secure their local share to move forward with construction, we think it will take until 2025.”

Wrought from the 1997 court ruling finding Ohio’s system of funding public schools unconstitutional, the massive construction program was created to aid all 614 school districts and 49 joint vocational districts. Starting with the poorest districts, the state has been working through a list of projects, with work beginning after local voters approve levies to provide matching funds.

Overall, nearly 1,000 schools have been built or renovated since the commission was created in 1997. Funds have been offered to about 450 districts, Hickman said, with about 100 unable so far to secure local matching funds.

When the commission was approved by state lawmakers, the work ahead may have seemed insurmountable. A 1995 General Accounting Office survey of 10,000 school buildings nationwide singled out Ohio’s as being in the worst condition.

State officials predicted all work on Ohio’s schools would be completed by 2012.

It was an ambitious timeline and, like most construction projects, prone to delay, most recently because of the economic recession.

The poorest districts had to come up with relatively small amounts of matching funds, but as wealthier districts began to qualify and the local contribution grew, the economy stalled and voters became less willing to approve tax increases for school construction.

But Hickman said the program appears to be picking up steam again.

Last month, the commission approved $1.1 billion in school construction projects for the current fiscal year, nearly double the value of projects approved last year. The 27 districts selected for funding plan to construct 43 new buildings and renovate nine existing ones, with the state contribution averaging 44 percent.

“We’ve got six who already have their funding (approved) and four more lined up to go to the ballot in August and November,” Hickman said. “Last year at this time, only four districts had their funding.”

Among the districts ready to start building projects are South-Western and Lancaster schools, where voters earlier this year approved money for new buildings.

In South-Western, ground will be broken next year for 13 new elementary schools, a new high school and renovations to two elementary schools. If you’re looking for a solution to missing teeth, dental implants in California might be the answer you’re looking for, visit temeculafacialoralsurgery.com. The state will provide $120 million of the $268 million for the project, with local taxpayers picking up the rest.

Five new elementary schools will be built in Lancaster, with the state covering about one-third of the $88 million project.

Among the new projects also is the commission’s first STEM school, the Dayton Regional STEM school, where an old store will be renovated into classrooms.

ccandisky@dispatch.com

The Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) Thursday gave approval to the first construction contract that uses new construction reform rules passed in HB153 (Amstutz), the biennial budget.

Southern Local School District in Meigs County gets the distinction of being the first project under OSFC’s Classroom Facilities Assistance Program to use an alternative project delivery option. The project includes a new high school addition to the existing Southern Elementary School.

The project was one of 88 construction trade contracts that were approved at Thursday’s meeting. The panel unanimously adopted more than $90 million in contracts that will go towards school construction and renovation work in 22 school districts.

Ohio Department of Administrative Services Director Bob Blair, a member of the commission, asked what kind of savings the district will see by using a single prime contractor. Jon Walden, manager of contracts and compliance, said that it will take time for the district to know the full cost savings because it is the first time for such a contract.

OSFC Executive Director Richard Hickman said in a statement released later that more than a dozen other school districts are considering using one or more of the alternative construction delivery methods adopted in HB153.

In other action, the panel approved seven school districts for participation in the OSFC’s energy conservation savings program, also known as the “HB264 program.” The districts include Auburn Career Center in Lake County; Blanchester Local in Clinton County; Dalton Local in Wayne County; Lakewood Local in Licking County; Lorain County Joint Vocational District in Lorain County; Noble Local in Noble County; and Tecumseh Local in Clark County.

Mike Mendenhall, deputy chief of projects, said staff had originally planned to present two projects, but five more were added after additional technical reviews were completed. Some of the projects include guarantees from the energy consultant that Mendenhall said assures that the savings promised will be realized. If not, the energy consultant must make up the difference. Modern Remodel California Dream of San Diego brings the ultimate vision of home transformation to life with their whole home remodeling services. In answer to a question to Blair, he said there is an additional cost for the guarantee, but it’s very minimal and goes toward monitoring costs. He told Rep. Dan Ramos (D-Lorain) that the cost of providing the guarantee can be built into the project.

The OSFC approved changes to its FY13 project agreement templates that reflect changes in law as part of the Mid- Biennium Review Bills, including construction reform, maintenance program, prorated half mill maintenance, and abandoned facilities changes. The last one states that a district has three options for abandoning a facility: convert it to a non-education use, transfer or sell the property, or demolish all or a portion of the facility.

The commission also honored Jerry Kasai, OSFC’s chief legal counsel, who is retiring after 30 years of work for the state. He also served with the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, the Department of Administrative Services, the attorney general’s office, and two different stints at OSFC.

Hickman said Kasai played a significant and key role in development and implementation of policies and procedures at OSFC. 

The Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) Thursday approved changes to its design manual that includes allowing for wireless Internet connections in classrooms. The changes to the 2012 manual were made based upon 118 suggestions, Franklin Brown of OSFC told members of the commission.

Brown said previously, OSFC’s design manual required a wired connection for classrooms, but changes to technology has caused the commission to pull the trigger and allow for wireless.  “We feel that wireless technology has come of age,” he said, noting that many school districts have already began implementing wireless in their buildings for students and staff to use. 

Where previous technology could lag, he said current technology allows up to 25 students working on their devices at once to utilize one wireless hub.  He also noted that an analysis of the cost of wireless found that once the cost of furniture, equipment and space for a wired connection was factored in, the cost of wireless is about equal.

Among the other changes to the manual:

– Removed the use of unit ventilators as a type of air condition. Brown said the units are like those you find in hotels and said there are a number of reasons for the removal, including the noise;

– Heights of gymnasiums changed to limit the trusses above the floor;

– Requires certification of air barrier systems by a national agency. Brown said the systems were added in last year’s update, and now they will be inspected and certified.

– Wood windows added back in to the design manual. Brown said they were removed a few years ago because of a failure in one project, but it has been determined that failure was because of a design issue.

– Limits gymnasium lighting to fluorescent lights. Brown said they found those lights are more efficient than HID lights and they come on instantaneous instead of warming up over a few minutes.

– Polished concrete was added as an approved flooring.

– Includes construction reform requirements adopted in biennial budget bill HB153 (Amstutz).

– Gives designers the ability to reduce square footage of buildings when they still meet program requirements.

– Creates summary check sheets to determine how much parking a site can have before it must solely use local funding.

– Updates the student learning environment planning process and adds planning process templates.

Brown also said construction costs have not changed this year from last except for a 2.62 percent increase in inflation.

In other action, the commission approved three settlements on lawsuits related to construction projects, including one in the Wellston City School district, where construction manager BBL-Maescher’s insurer agreed to pay $1.44 million to settle a suit that claimed “breaches of the professional standard of care and contractual breaches in the administration of the project.”

OSFC Chief Legal Counsel Jerry Kasai told the commission that there were things in the design of the project “that don’t meet any standard, let alone any professional standard.”

The commission adopted 77 construction contracts worth more than $85 million for projects in 20 school districts. It also heard an update on the auditor of state’s FY11 auditor of state, which included no major findings but had four internal control comments, including concerns about a delay in the reconciliation in monthly expenditure reports, a request form approval, a missing signature on a change order and the verification of payments to school districts. Two of those concerns were attributed to a vacancy on the staff that has since been filled.

 An amendment sponsored by Rep. J Kirk Schuring passed by both the House and the Senate was signed last week by Governor Kasich, this will streamline the Ohio historic tax credit process for some historic properties by allowing both a qualified lessee or fee simple owner structure to be eligible for Ohio historic tax credits. This change may reduce legal cost on some projects. Read the bill HERE (scroll down to section 149.311)  Last week the Ohio Department of Development awarded $35.8 million in Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits to 18 owners planning to rehabilitate 44 historic buildings in 10 communities across the state. If you’d like to review the list click HERE

The July issue of the SAO newsletter is now available at http://das.ohio.gov/Divisions/GeneralServices/StateArchitectsOffice/SAOeNews.aspx.  

 Inside this issue:

• Ohio Facilities Construction Commission created

• Ohio Construction Reform update

• SAO Energy Services completes largest performance contract to date

• New Standard Requirements and agreements issued

• Columbus State renovates Educational Resource Center and campus library

• Groundbreaking ceremony held for new $33 million student center at Central State

• OAKS CI releases funding enhancements into production

Click here to download a PDF version of SAO eNews.

The Historic Tax Credit Coalition and Rutgers University yesterday released their annual study on the economic impa ct of the federal historic tax credit (HTC). Researchers found that between fiscal years (FYs) 1978 and 2011 the HTC has generated more than 2.2 million jobs and $83.7 billion in income. In FY 2011 alone, the HTC generated 64,000 jobs and $2.7 billion in income. The study was conducted by researchers at the Rutgers University Center for Urban Policy Research and commissioned by the Historic Tax Credit Coalition, a public policy advocacy organization.

Read more about the report from Historic Tax Credit Coalition Chairman John Leith-Tetrault in his monthly History and the Hill column in the July issue of the subscriber_id=angela.williams@ketteringoh.org&;url=www.novoco.com%2Fmarketing%2Fshopping_product_detail.m%3Fid%3D346″ target=_self>Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits. The report will also be a hot topic at the subscriber_id=angela.williams@ketteringoh.org&;url=www.novoco.com%2Fevents%2Fother%2Fkentucky%2Findex.php” target=_self>National Historic Tax Credit Conference, September 6-7, in Louisville, Ky.

The Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) Thursday approved funding for 26 school districts to begin construction projects in FY13 contingent on those districts’ meeting their local share of funding.

The approval also included funding for the first STEM school in the state, the Dayton Regional STEM School. It is the first school to focus on science, technology, engineering and math that is not a part of a school district to receive OSFC funding.

OSFC Executive Director Richard Hickman called the Dayton Regional STEM School a “unique project” that is taking advantage of an empty Value City store. He said the school has already obtained funding to renovate part of the building and has begun classes there, and Thursday’s funding will go towards renovating more of the building.

In total, OSFC approved more than $1.1 billion in construction work and will be matched by more than $622 million in local funding. The amount approved for the fiscal year is more than double the amount spent by the commission last year. Hickman attributed the extra funding to the General Assembly’s being more generous in the most recent capital bill as well as other factors.

The average state share of the 27 projects is 43.8 percent and includes seven segmented projects that take advantage of recent law changes to reduce the minimum local share. The construction will include 43 new buildings and nine renovations of current buildings, and will lead to 83 current buildings’ being taken out of service. Of those, 81 will be demolished, and OSFC staff said the other two will be utilized by Swanton Local School District as administrative offices and for other uses.

Ohio Department of Administrative Services Director Bob Blair, a member of the OSFC, asked if the commission is close to moving from new construction projects to maintenance on projects built since the OSFC was formed.

Hickman responded that maintenance is always concern, but added there is still much work to be done on the backlog of school districts needing funding. He said an evaluation conducted a year ago found that there are still more than 300 school districts OSFC has yet to serve. He said if they fund 25 districts every year and all 25 secure local funding, it will take until 2025 to have reached every district.

“There is a significant amount of work to do,” Hickman told members of the commission. “That’s why we’re pleased with the support of this administration in terms of providing capital funding.”

Hickman also told the commission that the staff plans to come back in January and make mid-year recommendations on funding for districts to keep the program building. That funding will come from money already approved for districts that could not meet their local share in this fiscal year and are not likely to secure local funding soon.

After the meeting, Hickman said the commission did something similar last January when a district that had previously lapsed in terms of securing local funding was able to finally do so. Rather than force that district to wait until it came up again, the commission was able move funding to bring the district up the list.

He said there has been a concern that funds will be tied up waiting for districts to get funding rather than continuing construction. Noting the number of districts that need funding, he said it is the commission’s intent to move forward with building projects.

Projects that could be moved up the list include those for districts with lapsed funding, districts that have exceptional needs and secure local funding before they are eligible for OSFC funds, or districts that are authorized by the General Assembly, Hickman said. He cited a college preparatory boarding school in Cincinnati as one example, noting that it would have likely received funding in this round but details were still being worked out.

The commission also approved the “Next 10” list of districts that will be eligible for funding next year. David Chovan of OSFC said that because lapsed districts go to the head of the list, the list is the same as last year as those districts have not yet secured local funding.

Ohio’s newly adopted residential building code will require new homes to be more energy-efficient, come with carbon-monoxide detectors and be tested for air leaks.

The code was adopted by the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Board of Building Standards after passing final procedural hurdles this month. It’s scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1.

The new rules are estimated to add between $1,100 and $1,200 to the cost of an 1,800-square-foot two-story home. 

“Hopefully, the homeowner might notice these changes on their utility bills,” said Columbus homebuilder, CraigTuckerman, who served on the code’s advisory committee.

A 2009 U.S. Department of Energy study of a similar proposed code change in Boston found that homeowners could save about $230 a year in energy costs with the new guidelines

Tuckerman said many Ohio builders, especially custom builders, already meet or exceed most provisions of the new code.

Among other code requirements, carbon-monoxide detectors must be installed outside each bedroom in a home that uses gas or propane or includes an attached garage. Homes must meet an air-tightness standard that includes a blower-door test. And at least 75 percent of light bulbs in new homes must be high-efficiency, such as compact fluorescent bulbs.

While it won’t radically change the way homes are constructed, the code had sparked considerable debate since its introduction more than three years ago.

Environmental groups such as the Sierra Club favored the tougher energy requirements, while Ohio homebuilders argued the new code would excessively boost the cost of a new home.

The Ohio Home Builders Association opposed the initial proposal. But at the urging of builders, the code now includes a compromise provision to provide contractors two ways to meet the tougher energy requirements. They can either follow the International Code Council guidelines or follow an alternative set of guidelines designed by builders to achieve the same energy efficiency.

“I think they came up with a code that works,” Vincent Squillace, executive vice president of the Ohio Home Builders Association, told the newspaper. “We came up with an equivalent code that’s more strict but is about $2,000 cheaper per home to implement than the original code.”

Debbie Ohler, staff engineer for the Ohio Board of Building Standards, said the code also recognizes new materials and methods of construction. The board will administer the code.

“It’s definitely an improvement,” Ohler told the newspaper. “It also incorporates requirements that provide for safer homes, but at the same time, it incorporates more stringent energy requirements, which should save homeowners money.”

The Ohio School Facilities Commission recently approved $108 million for construction trade contracts in 29 school districts.

The funding brings the commission’s contract approvals to more than $502 million since the start of the calendar year.

Among the schools receiving funding are Akron Public, Eaton Community City, Green Local, and Otsego Local school districts as well as the Mid-East Career and Technology Center, according to the OSFC.

“These 104 trade contracts represent a continuing investment in Ohio’s schools,” OSFC Executive Director Richard Hickman said in a release. “Ohio’s ongoing school construction and renovation program is not only delivering high quality educational facilities, but it is also providing good jobs in lean economic times.”

Since it was established in 1997, OSFC has disbursed more than $9.5 billion in state funding for school construction and renovation.

Energy Conservation: The OSFC separately approved three districts to participate in the Energy Conservation program at anticipated annual savings of more than $210,000.

Projects in the Campbell City (Mahoning County), South Euclid Lyndhurst City (Cuyahoga County), and Bloom Carroll Local (Fairfield County) school districts will be completed under the program.

“Reducing energy costs and consumption is a major goal for school districts,” Executive Director Hickman said. “The $210,000 in annual savings generated through the HB264 program will allow these three districts to upgrade their facilities and become more energy efficient. Furthermore, the energy savings will cover the cost of the financing used to fund the projects.”

The Campbell City project will involve upgrades to lighting and building controls and other energy improvements in two buildings. The district estimates $76,884 in annual energy and operational savings.

The South Euclid Lyndhurst City project will include lighting upgrades to eight buildings and other improvements with an estimated annual and operational savings of $73,800.

The Bloom Carroll Local project includes upgrades to lighting and building controls in three buildings and boiler replacements. The district expects $50,926 in annual savings.