Three Rivers Community recently completed infrastructure upgrades that district leaders anticipate will cut energy costs by more than 30 percent and save more than $197,000 in annual energy and operational costs. The upgrades were made to reduce costs while improving the learning environment within classrooms and increasing sustainability district-wide.
 
The district collaborated with Trane, a leading global provider of indoor comfort systems and services and a brand of Ingersoll Rand, to improve the classroom learning environment. In a separate initiative, the district partnered with Grand Valley State University to focus on reading and writing performance in the middle school. These and other improvement initiatives have already led to double-digit test score improvements and leaders expect continued improvement as cultural and systematic changes evolve.
 
The district’s strong financial management allowed it to qualify for an extremely high rating for their energy bonds, generating even greater project savings due to reduced interest rates.
 
The improvements represent a major step in transforming district facilities into high performance buildings that tie to the schools’ educational mission. High performance buildings take a whole building approach to performance while creating spaces that are reliable, safe, healthy, comfortable and efficient.
 
High performance buildings meet specific standards for energy and water consumption, system reliability and uptime, environmental compliance and occupant comfort. All standards are set to deliver established outcomes that help building owners and occupants achieve their business missions.
 
The specific upgrades selected by Three Rivers Community Schools are outlined in the linked news release and fact sheet. Experts from Trane are available to discuss how the Trane High Performance Buildings approach helps schools to improve the learning environment while identifying significant cost savings that allow districts to put their education dollars to better use.