The Culver School Board has decided to move ahead with requesting formal proposals for energy-savings upgrades. Board members have heard presentations from a few companies. Last week, they decided to take the next step by advertising a request for qualifications from guaranteed energy savings providers.
“Over the last nine months, we’ve been discussing energy saving projects that would help us cut, sometimes, the energy costs within our buildings, such as doing lighting or doing a roof project or even as far as looking at solar,” Superintendent Karen Shuman explained. “Somewhat, the beginning process is just to look to see what’s that going to cost us, what options do we have, and what could we do with that. And the concept of just using our capital fund money in order to do some of these projects is part of it.”
However, board member Bill Sonnemaker stressed that doesn’t mean the school corporation has made a final decision to move ahead with the upgrades. “I want to be certain that the advertisement is clear enough that we may not be doing any of it,” he said. “We’re gathering information, publicly gathering information, suggestions, expertise, et cetera. But depending on what we learn, we may not do any of it.”
Under a guaranteed energy savings contract, schools or other government entities issue a request for qualifications from a list of state-approved companies. A contractor is then selected based on those qualifications, rather than simply choosing the lowest bidder. If the upgrades don’t pay for themselves through energy savings within a specified timeframe, the contractor would then have to pay the difference.
