Mineola Union Free School District in Mineola, New York, educates 2,832 students from grades K-12. When the administration determined to proceed with a Phase 2 district-wide energy project, they specifically targeted infrastructure upgrades that would provide long-term energy cost savings as well as operational savings and improvements.
The school district and Ecosystem collaborated closely to conceive a bold project that directly tackled the district’s antiquated steam systems and the endless challenges of comfort, noise, control, and maintenance of such systems. Typically, school districts address steam system problems with quick fixes — insulating or re-insulating pipes, replacing steam traps, and perhaps adding additional controls and building automation — but these are short-term solutions to a long-term problem that is better mitigated at the root cause. Mineola instead chose to innovate by implementing a steam to hot water conversion, the first time this measure was approved by the State Education Department through an Energy Performance Project.
‘‘Sometimes you need a fresh set of eyes on an existing problem. Looking at things differently usually yields better results; that is why we chose Ecosystem.’’
– Michael P. Nagler, Superintendent of Schools
