Once a building is operational, there can still be factors that disrupt its efficiency and keep it from functioning as designed. Achieving efficient operation can be challenging, which is why more and more schools are implementing building monitoring technology to help solve this problem.
A longtime partner to the second-largest school district in the state of Kansas, Henderson Engineers designed the building systems for the district’s fifth high school, Olathe West. Because an energy-efficient school was a priority for the district, our team designed sustainable systems that integrated with a building monitoring platform that generates live reports on the school’s electricity, gas, and water usage. These real-time analytics not only help the school operate more cost-effectively, but also provide data for the school’s Green Technology Academy curriculum, one of two 21st Century Academies at the school that provides hands-on learning opportunities students can apply towards their post-secondary careers.
Designed to assist facility personnel in managing multiple systems and buildings from an easy-to-operate dashboard, monitoring technology increases manpower by providing better tools to do the job. The technology does not replace regular building management software, but instead integrates with it, allowing operations personnel to identify and resolve issues quicker.
The documented needs of the facility are used to create alarms within the management software. For instance, if the temperature of a classroom isn’t within the ideal predetermined range, an alarm can be set to notify personnel of the potential operational issue. Whether the thermostat has been adjusted onsite or an electrical malfunction has occurred, the facility manager can then address the issue before the teacher and students recognize the temperature variance.
The monitoring dashboard can be visited regularly or in response to alarms, depending on staff availability. At Henderson Building Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Henderson Engineers, we have a team who regularly reviews our clients’ building monitoring dashboards serving as an extension of their facility team. This technology allows our staff to help monitor, prevent, and solve issues without being onsite. This access also frees up onsite facility personnel to manage regular maintenance schedules and minimizes the likelihood of major system issues.
Schools face unique operation constraints that make building monitoring an effective facility management tool.
When the Olathe School District built their new high school, they faced many of these same challenges. Because Olathe is one of the fastest-growing suburbs in Kansas City, the district needed a strategic plan that allowed for the gradual addition of students to Olathe West High School throughout the first four years. The team at Henderson worked in collaboration with the district and facility personnel to employ an advanced VRF system that would allow them to achieve their goals. The building monitoring team at Henderson Building worked with the facilities staff to employ an ongoing strategy to manage their building systems. Once it was operational, we trained onsite personnel, set up parameters for the data they wanted to see, and helped them balance dormant and occupied spaces as the school’s student population increased.
Olathe West High School shares the monitoring data with students through one of their 21st Century Academies, Green Tech Academy. The Green Tech Academy helps students learn about the importance of energy-efficient technology and gives them the opportunity to have a hand in how energy is used at the school itself. Interactive displays outside the Green Tech Academy classroom highlight utility usage numbers from the school. Inside the classroom, students get to explore and invent strategies to improve energy consumption. The program not only encourages kids to care about the environment, but it also teaches students that when they see a problem, they can be a part of the solution.
The success of building monitoring at Olathe West High School and the Green Tech Academy caused the Olathe School District to implement the technology in several other schools. Now, after a four-year partnership, the team at Olathe has all the tools they need to keep their facilities running efficiently. If you would like to learn more about building monitoring, contact us here.
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