Schools implement energy projects

In order to save money in energy and maintenance costs and to take advantage of the limited funding options available, the Douglas County School District is moving forward with energy services projects throughout the district.

In February, the school board approved moving forward with Ameresco, an energy services company, to audit all of the district's schools and administrative buildings.

In June, based on the findings of the audit, the district signed a performance contract with Ameresco for about $5 million.

The audit identified several energy conservation measures which, once implemented, will save the district more than $450,000 annually.

These savings are guaranteed by Ameresco and will fund the project debt service, which means this energy services project will pay for itself through the savings it achieves.

Only short-term projects that improve energy output, such as updated lighting, qualify as energy services projects.

The district has a number of capital projects that do not fit the energy services profile. These projects, which include health and safety projects, have been identified by the Keep Improving Douglas Schools committee, which recommended a bond to fund the projects.

A performance contract is an alternative way to fund major capital projects and still remain budget neutral, meaning the district has no up-front costs.

A performance contract is a project that generates savings in utility costs by bundling together several energy conservation measures that help pay for each other despite the varying paybacks of the individual energy conservation measures.

State law requires all costs of a performance contract (including design, construction management, and even the required third party consultant) to be paid for from savings, with a maximum project length of 15 years.

The district considered a performance contract because of the decrease in the district's capital funds over the last two years. If the bond is not approved in November, the district will lose a 10-cent debt service tax rate, guaranteed by having outstanding bond payments, and the governmental services tax that funds capital improvements.

In looking for alternate methods to fund projects, the district found it could use a performance contract to generate savings that pay for the project with no up-front costs and a minimum guaranteed outcome.

The process has a guaranteed maximum project cost with no change orders and a concise construction schedule.

The federal government has completed more than $4 billion in performance contract projects and has just approved spending $50 billion more over the next 10 years.

In Nevada, Washoe County School District has completed six phases of work with Ameresco amounting to approximately $18 million in completed projects. In addition, the City of Henderson, Department of Corrections, Washoe County, City of Reno, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Clark County School District are all in the process or have completed projects utilizing a performance contract.

The district is using a performance contract in addition to the bond request because they believe the magnitude of their needs exceeds a one-avenue approach.

They believe a performance contract compliments the bond by performing much-needed infrastructure improvements while requiring no up-front funding.

Ameresco is the largest independent energy service provider in North America with more than $4 billion in completed projects.