MONROE TWP BOE ANNOUNCES ENERGY SAVINGS IMPROVEMENT PLAN PROJECT
The administrators and board members of Monroe Township Public Schools (MTPS) and Johnson Controls, Inc. (JCI) are working together to secure an energy efficient future for the school district. Both entities have entered into a $24.1 millio n turnkey Energy Savings Improvement Plan (ESIP) contrac t in an effort to transform the environment, operation and energy efficiency of the facilities. The project is driven and funded entirely by energy and utility rate savings along with $1.2 million of New Jersey Clean Energy Program incentives and rebates. Johnson Controls is guaranteeing the energy savings of the comprehensive infrastructure renewal at all six of the schools in the district.
The Facilities Committee of the Board of Education comprised of Frank Torcasio, former Board Member, Fred Powell , and Anthony Ayres alon g with the administration were the key stakeholders overseeing the interests of the school district from the RFP selection process to the development of the Energy Savings Plan.
The successful outcomes could not have been achieved without the support of th e entire board including Barbara Chamberlain, Therese Bonmati, Mike D’Andrea, Jennifer Lewis – Gallagher, Andy Schwaiger, and Jack Don. A special thank you also goes out to the Township of Monroe Councilmen and Councilwomen and the Municipal Utilities Autho rity Board for their assistance on this project.
Upon completion of the project, the district will save over $29 million over the next two decades while reducing the use of capital improvement budgets. A total of 3 million kWh units of electric and 81k th erms of natural gas will be saved annually which will reduce the carbon footprint across the district’s school buildings by approximately 5 million pounds of CO 2 emissions. A complete overhaul of the heating and ventilation systems at Holly Glen Elementary School will take place during the summer of 2020. Advanced lighting upgrades will also be installed in all schools as will mechanical and electric systems updates. Robust energy management control systems for ongoing maintenance and management are plan ned across the buildings as part of this project.
“Through this partnership, we are pleased to help the district unlock trapped capital by leveraging the use of guaranteed energy savings to offset the cost of the upgrades,” said Paul Napoli, account excutive of Johnson Controls, in a statement. “The legacy of this ESIP project will not only create energy and operational savings, it will improve the places and spaces for student learning and faculty performance for years to come. In these uncertain time s, the project will also provide much needed benefits to the local economy in terms of the construction jobs it will create.”
Assistant Superintendent Lynn DiPietropolo commented “Our collaboration with Johnson Controls will allow us to enhance our dist rict’s physical environment through necessary infrastructure upgrades, while directly helping to improve student achievement.” Facilities Manager at the time of the project Butch Berglund stated “Operational cost reductions within this project will pay div idends in productivity gains within our key facilities personnel.” School Business Administrator Lisa Schulz commented “This ESIP project represents millions of dollars in future tax relief as most if not all of these improvements would have ha d to be mad e over the next 2 to 5 years.” A project kickoff ceremony for the project will be held at 10am on July 30 th at the Holly Glen Elementary School