School funds boiler conversion with boiler savings
The town of Portsmouth, RI, had four schools (two elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school) with outdated, inefficient gas-fired hot water boilers that were becoming expensive to maintain and operate.
In 2015, the school district replaced the elementary school boilers with Viessmann CM2 condensing boilers. In 2016, it was time to tackle the middle and high schools. Both schools have large footprints, with 140,000 sq ft and ~165,000, respectively. Further, the middle school boiler room was located near the center of the building, posing a difficult rigging problem. The challenges were complemented with an opportunity — if the district could meet state efficiency guidelines, it would be eligible for up to a 35% reimbursement through a “Green Initiative” program within the Rhode Island Department of Education’s Necessity of School Construction Program.