High schools featuring thermal energy storage demonstrate how districts can reduce operating costs

June 4, 2015

Several universities and business campuses have benefited from utilizing thermal energy storage as means of cutting electricity costs. There's no reason that the same strategy can't be deployed on high school campuses as well. Finding new ways to reduce energy costs is a common concern of school districts regardless of the local climate, so taking a closer look at how thermal energy storage can mitigate these expenses makes good financial sense for schools.

One thermal energy storage solution that has demonstrated repeated success on high school campuses is the installation of CALMAC's IceBank energy storage tanks. Their high-tech design allows each tank to store a significant amount of energy in the form of ice, and then use the stored energy to cool the school during the day. As a result, these high schools can spend significantly less of their budgets on cooling classrooms and instead invest that money in improving education for their students.

Thermal energy storage at Weeki Wachee High School
Florida's Weeki Wachee High School is unique in that the layout of the campus resembles a small town as much as it does a place for learning. Three sets of academic buildings, an athletic center, dining hall, performing arts building and other facilities on campus put a big burden on administrators in the form of high electricity bills. In order to address these costs and help the campus achieve LEED Silver certification, the school brought in an engineering firm to design Weeki Wachee's HVAC systems.

A cooling system that incorporated CALMAC's IceBank was installed to make cooling the campus more cost-effective and simplify maintenance via a central location. School Construction News also pointed out that installing thermal energy storage helped to control the campus humidity levels and lower the school's peak energy consumption. CALMAC was selected for the job thanks to the company's expertise and the proven reliability and operational efficiency of its IceBank energy storage tanks.

Fossil Ridge High School improves performance
The Poudre County school district, located in Fort Collins, Colorado, has worked to set the sustainable standard for the rest of the state's school districts since 2000. This effort led to the construction of Fossil Ridge High School in 2004, a project that the school district hoped could be emulated as the new standard for designing and operating an energy-efficient, cost-effective campus.

The engineers behind the design of the school opted for an integrated design, and this approach made Fossil Ridge High School a perfect project for introducing thermal energy storage in the form of CALMAC's IceBank storage tanks. Annual savings for the high school have since exceeded over $80,000 and the school district noted that the energy storage-equipped Fossil Ridge campus cost over $100,000 per year less to power than older schools with similar square footage. Like at Weeki Wachee, these innovations helped the Fossil Ridge campus earn LEED Silver certification.

Durable tanks deliver reliable performance for schools
There are plenty of reasons for school districts to considering optimizing HVAC systems via thermal energy storage. In addition to the cost saving aspect, the tanks are durable, backed by a 10-year limited warranty and feature a sleek, simple design that minimizes the need for maintenance.

All of these benefits are good news for school administrators who are interested in smarter cooling on campus but can't afford to invest in a solution requiring constant upkeep. CALMAC's storage tanks are also available in multiple sizes to account for any space constraints.