Schneider Electric to Implement $4.2 Million Campus-Wide Energy Efficiency Project for Los Angeles City College

Performance contract upgrades to save nearly $321,000 per year

DALLAS – August 25, 2010 – Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management, announced today it will implement $4.2 million in facility enhancements throughout 17 campus buildings for Los Angeles City College (LACC), one of nine campuses part of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD). The upgrades will be completed by Schneider Electric as part of a performance contract designed to improve operations and comfort for students while they are on campus, optimize energy efficiency throughout the buildings’ 1,158,557 square feet, save on energy costs, and reduce harmful emissions. Schneider Electric guarantees energy savings of $4.8 million over 15 years.

LACC is a two-year public college serving more than 17,000 students. It is located in the eastern side of Hollywood on 49 acres that were the original location for UCLA. Schneider Electric will help LACC improve the energy efficiency of college facilities, resolve problems operating multiple energy management systems on the campus, and to make it possible to track energy usage in each building. In addition, Schneider Electric will complete the work amid multiple ongoing construction projects on campus and remain consistent with the campus master plan.

Performance contracting offers many long-term benefits for colleges, such as improved facility efficiency, occupant comfort, financial management and environmental protection. Typically, new, more efficient equipment and upgraded facility automation systems maximize energy efficiency and generate utility savings. Schneider Electric guarantees the amount of savings performance contracting projects will achieve and agrees to pay the difference if that amount is not realized.

Helping the college to manage its energy resources more effectively is an important goal of the project. To achieve this, Schneider Electric will implement a variety of energy conservation measures (ECMs) on the City College campus. These include replacing or retrofitting multiple existing energy management systems (EMS) and integrating the new system into a common, districtwide enterprise EMS to enable LACCD staff to monitor all district buildings from a single platform. This will not only provide convenience and ease of use, but will also allow facility managers to accurately regulate energy use at the facilities. In addition, Schneider Electric will install building sub-meters that will allow the staff to further track usage at each building and identify inefficiencies with ease. Currently, there is only one meter for the entire campus. Schneider Electric will also upgrade the interior lighting and controls, install more efficient plumbing fixtures, add new window glazing, and replace fan and pump motors.

Schneider Electric partner firm Athena Engineering, specialists in building automation systems, mechanical heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems, general contracting, and construction management, with offices in San Dimas and San Diego, Calif., will complete the EMS portion of the contract. Athena Engineering is a minority-owned company and has been voted a Top 100 Women-Owned Business in Los Angeles County for the last 10 years.

“Challenges specific to this project include coordinating installation with ongoing construction projects on campus and arranging our work so as not to disrupt classes,” said Shon Anderson, vice president, sales, Energy Solutions, Schneider Electric’s Buildings Business. “The benefits for students and staff at LACC include a better learning and working environment and greater energy efficiency, which will also result in reducing pollution. We estimate this project will prevent 1,659 tons of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere each year. This is equivalent to planting 9,955 acres of trees or removing 5,340 cars from the roads over the next 15 years.”

About Schneider Electric

As a global specialist in energy management with operations in more than 100 countries, Schneider Electric offers integrated solutions across multiple market segments, including leadership positions in energy and infrastructure, industrial processes, building automation, and data centers/networks, as well as a broad presence in residential applications. Focused on making energy safe, reliable, and efficient, the company's 100,000+ employees achieved sales of more than $22 billion in 2009, through an active commitment to help individuals and organizations “Make the most of their energy.” www.schneider-electric.us
 

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