North Rockland Central School District wins NYSERDA Grants

 

 

With help from MSA, two grants, worth $185,000 and $25,000 are awarded.

 

by Courtney Iseman

November 2, 2009

 

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Michael Shilale Architects, LLP is pleased to announce two NYSERDA awards for our client, the North Rockland Central School District (NRCSD). The first is a $25,000 grant to evaluate energy conservation opportunities. The second grant is $185,000 to install two 25 kilowatt solar power arrays on the North Rockland High School and the Fieldstone Secondary School. Both grants come from the $79 million stimulus package that NYSERDA had announced this summer.

Jim Johnston, NRCSD’s Assistant Superintendent for Business states, “We are pleased to have MSA help us secure these two important grants.  Their school district and alternative energy experience has proven valuable to us.  MSA , is our district architect, and as a local firm, gives us the attention and expertise necessary to allow us to implement over $7 million of capital improvements at no cost to our taxpayers through an Energy Savings Performance Contract.”

MSA is proud to have helped NRCSD apply for the NYSERDA grant, and also to have helped the district benchmark their buildings and decide what improvements would be best to make. MSA does this with an energy audit. This is an evaluation in which MSA can tell your school how much energy the building is using and why, and what can be done to use less. For example, MSA is currently working on a boiler replacement project after discovering an unnecessarily large use of energy by the school’s existing boiler system. By using boilers that are 98% efficient, modular and can shut themselves down when the building is not in use, the energy saved is substantial – and these savings are a big help to districts.

In addition to having such an energy audit performed, your district can also receive this help with NYSERDA’s application process. There are two different types of applications that NYSERDA offers, the PON 004 and the PON 1613. In NRCSD’s case, grant money was awarded from the PON 004 to fund energy conservation measures and window improvements, while PON 1613 supplied funding for the two 25 kilowatt solar panel arrays on the roofs of two schools in the district.

If you are looking to make improvements to your district’s school buildings, an energy audit is the place to start. The timing has never been better, either: in 2010, it is mandatory for every district to perform a RESCUE report, or a close inspection of building conditions. MSA can perform the RESCUE report along with an energy audit, so not only will you comply with the New York State SED standards, but you will also receive a detailed understanding of your building’s energy use and what improvements you can make. Going forward, MSA can help you apply for a NYSERDA grant to make those improvements at no cost to your taxpayers, just like our client received with the $200,000 grant!

Michael Shilale Architects, LLP (MSA), an eight person architectural engineering firm founded in 1991, is committed to protecting and preserving the environment through their design work. We help our clients solve their building problems, protect their assets and investments, build under budget, and realize their vision. MSA serves a municipal, commercial, residential and educational client base, including Rockland, Orange, Sullivan, Ulster and Nassau counties, in New York, as well as Bergen, Passaic, Hudson and Essex Counties in New Jersey. For more information, please call 845-708-9200, or visit their website at, www.shilale.com

 



 
 

 

 
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