What to know about healthy school buildings

Affordable process puts improvements in reach

Even with the influx of ESSER funds, school districts across the country struggle to keep up with maintaining their facilities—let alone improving the learning environment. Here’s a fresh look at setting priorities and taking a value-driven approach to healthier buildings.

What to know about healthy school buildings

November 19, 2024

If your school is like more than half the K-12 schools in the U.S., you know it needs updates. You know infrastructure is aging, maintenance has been deferred, and inefficiencies are affecting the learning environment. You know costs are rising and budgets are shrinking. And all of that can make it difficult to know what to do next.

Know where you can unlock value

Start by considering priorities in the three critical categories of healthy school buildings.

Improve student and staff well-being
Even before the pandemic, schools recognized the impact of indoor air quality (IAQ) on student learning and staff engagement. Today’s solutions consider ventilation and filtration as well as mold, chemicals and other pollutants. Improved lighting, temperature and humidity also contribute to student comfort and help attract and retain staff.

Reduce operating and energy costs
The U.S. Government Accountability Office found in 2020 that 41% of schools needed to update or replace their ventilation systems. Out-of-date HVAC equipment uses excess energy, is more prone to breakdowns, and can’t handle today’s advanced air filtering solutions. Upgrades reduce utility costs and better align equipment use with building use.

Increase sustainability
A school that’s more sustainable has a positive effect on students, staff and the planet. And sustainability measures save money in other ways. For example, updating HVAC, lighting and plumbing systems can help prevent unexpected equipment failures, reduce expensive emergency repairs, and increase maintenance team productivity.

Follow a value-driven approach

Johnson Controls offers a practical turnkey approach tailored to your district.

1. Assess your facilities. We inventory your current assets, analyze performance and benchmark against your peers. This clarifies areas for improvement—from identifying a space that’s over-ventilated to calculating energy use intensity (EUI) per square foot. An investment-grade audit can serve as the basis for your capital improvement plan, setting KPIs for energy use, IAQ and other measurable outcomes.

2. Design a solution. Building on the assessment, we help you determine how to address the top priorities. Our solutions incorporate digital tools and AI-fueled offerings to deliver essential data and insights. And our finance experts guide you to explore funding options such as performance contracting, as-a-service models, public-private partnerships, and grants, rebates and government programs.

3. Implement the solution. Our team works with mechanical, engineering and other subcontractors to streamline installation and commissioning. Easy-to-use digital tools help overcome staff discomfort with technology and operate systems as designed.

4. Monitor and verify. Johnson Controls services help you track and report progress against KPIs, ensuring the project delivers expected return on investment.

5. Maintain. Our experts are available for onsite services to keep assets operating at peak performance. Our solutions can also include HVAC training and continuing education for technical workers.

Johnson Controls has long partnered with Rockingham County Schools, North Carolina, to improve building performance, indoor air quality, energy efficiency and positive environmental impact.

A 2020 performance contract led to district-wide lighting upgrades, water conservation improvements and site-specific HVAC, controls and energy management improvements. This $8.1M self-funded project resulted in guaranteed annual savings of more than $500,000.

The investment-grade audit we conducted for that project helped create a plan for tackling deferred maintenance using $12M in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding. In a two-phase approach, we replaced and installed heat pumps and upgraded districtwide Metasys digital controls, enabling remote monitoring.

The district recently received a 2024 Renew America’s Schools grant for infrastructure improvement. Johnson Controls team members, including maintenance experts who’ve worked onsite for decades under an operations and maintenance contract, are drawing on our knowledge of the district to help set priorities. Community benefits are expected to include assistance with HVAC career training.

Said Erselle Young, assistant superintendent of operations and logistics for the district, “Working with Johnson Controls grants us the expertise and resources to understand exactly where these funds could be allocated to have the most beneficial impact on our students and staff.”

Take strategic action now

Make a difference for your students and staff. Let Johnson Controls help you take economical steps to address deferred maintenance and achieve the outcomes you desire. Complete the form below to get started.

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