VASSALBORO: HVAC main topic for school

Vassalboro Community School (contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

A main discussion topic at the Vassalboro school board’s Sept. 19 meeting was HVAC – heating, ventilation and cooling – with the emphasis on cooling.

Vassalboro Community School (VCS) was uncomfortably warm during the September hot spell. Assistant principal Tabitha Brewer said teachers in the top-floor classrooms were invited to move their classes to cooler spaces elsewhere in the building.

Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer pointed out that when the VCS building was built in 1992, cooling “was not even on the architect’s radar.” Now, he and Director of Maintenance and Grounds Shelley Phillips are seeking input as they consider three main options: ceiling fans, heat pumps or a whole new HVAC system.

Ceiling fans would be the quickest and least costly option, as a temporary fix. Phillips brought photos of what she labeled “newer style commercial ceiling fans:” three blades “styled more like a wind turbine,” variable speed, with a 20- to 25-year life expectancy.

Winslow High School has them, she said, and staff find them effective and not disruptively noisy. They cost around $500 each; if fans were ordered this fall, they could probably be installed over Christmas vacation.

VCS has a heat pump to cool the office area for administrators who work in the summer, Pfeiffer said. Phillips has doubts about relying on heat pumps to cool so large and complex a building as VCS, which she said has 77,000 square feet of interior space.

There would have to be many of them, at $5,000 to $6,000 apiece, she said. Although state energy efficiency funds contribute to the initial cost, the pumps would need replacing every eight to 12 years without, as far as she knows, state aid.

A third option would be to hire an energy management consultant to review the current system, talk with staff and make recommendations for the building, probably including lighting as well as HVAC. This choice would be expensive and would take time.

From the audience, Chris French, chairman of the Vassalboro select board, suggested there might be state energy efficiency grants to help with the cost.

Resident John Melrose (who was instrumental in signing up Vassalboro for a solar farm project that has reduced electricity bills for the town and the school, Pfeiffer remembered) recommended assessing building energy use as background information for a consultant. A consultant might well come up with ideas locals had not considered, he added.

School board members intend to continue the discussion at future meetings. Board member Zachary Smith is leaning toward installing ceiling fans as a temporary solution.

“I just want the teachers to hear that we hear them, and we have a plan,” he said.

In other business Sept 19, VCS Principal Ira Michaud reported the school year had begun well. Pfeiffer, speaking for finance director Paula Pooler, said the budget is in good shape so far.

French asked if there was interest in exploring joining an organic waste diversion program. Pfeiffer suggested French and Phillips talk about it; Phillips said she has heard they’re expensive.

Board members discussed beginning to plan for the June 2024 promotion ceremony, remembering more elaborate pre-Covid recognitions of departing eighth-graders.

The next Vassalboro school board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17, at Vassalboro Community School.