Negative pressure produces positive results at St. Mary Schools
"It was costing us approximately $40,000 annually to heat the high school, and another $14,000 to heat the elementary school," said Joe Cascone, facilities manager for the Church of Saint Mary. Given the size of the two schools, 40,000 sq ft and 18,000 sq ft respectively, no one could argue that fuel cost had gotten out of hand.
In both schools, the major source of inefficiency was poor distribution. It took 6 lbs of steam pressure to get steam to all the elementary school zones and 8 lbs to the high school zones. These high pressures resulted in longer run times on both boiler systems, increasing overall fuel consumption.