Texico looking at energy savings

TEXICO — An aging school building can cause a lot of problems in the classroom, whether it’s flickering lights distracting students or an old swamp cooler kicking on and drowning out the teacher’s lecture.

Texico Municipal School District will look at a slew of energy-efficient upgrades across its combined campus this year thanks to a renovation by Yearout Energy that finishes this month.

The renovation project began in October 2018 and is roughly 95 percent complete with just a few odd projects to finish. The renovation is thanks to a $2.1 million Guaranteed Energy Savings Performance Contract (GESPC) from the Energy Services Coalition.

The renovation is estimated to save $22,300 during its first year and the school district will receive an $80,000 utility rebate from Xcel Energy. The district’s annual energy consumption is expected to fall by roughly 30 percent overall.

Examples of the improvements made include new LED lighting replacing outdated fluorescent lighting, adding double-pane insulated windows and HVAC equipment to replace evaporative coolers.

According Alex Montaño, vice president of project development for Yearout Energy, the new windows also double as a safety improvement as they are intruder resistant.

Montaño added that not only will the renovation save the district money, it will have other benefits.

“The benefits of this project are big. Not only does the school district save money by reducing energy consumption, but it increases the safety of the schools and addresses many of their deferred maintenance problems,” said Montaño. “Most schools are strapped for cash and don’t have the money to fix light fixtures and address heating and cooling problems. This gives them a huge leap forward to getting them up to what is normal and allow the maintenance teams to be proactive rather than reactive.”

Montaño thinks overall the most significant benefit of the renovation will be the comfort improvements for students and staff.

“We’ve improved the indoor learning environment with better lighting and better temperature,” Montaño said. “It’s been shown that a building that’s in good condition has a better teacher retention rate and testing grades are shown to be much better than one in a poorly operating building.”