By Jessica Edwards

As of last week, the heating and ventilation systems for the Haines School are fully automated and can be controlled remotely with a click of a mouse.

Cory Johnson, engineering specialist for ATS Alaska, said the system would make energy use in the school more efficient and made it easier to troubleshoot potential problems with the system. "It’s a maintenance staff’s dream come true," Johnson said.

Superintendent Michael Byer said although the data would tell the final story about the money-saving potential of the automated system, he was optimistic. "Instinctively, logically, it makes sense that it will be a good tool to optimize our use of energy," he said. "With the price of oil these days, everything helps."

The system, which Johnson characterized as a "medium-sized job," cost $250,00 and was part of the general contractor’s package. Both Johnson and Byer said automated systems are the new standard for schools.

Three networked computers and a server control the system. Sensors throughout the school communicate water temperature and pressure, and air temperature and flow to the network. Computer animated models of the major equipment in the air handling system – dampers, valves and fans – as well as the boilers and water pumps, allow staff to track the functioning of each part of the system.

"It looks like a video game," said Byer.

During a virtual tour of the system last week, Johnson clicked on one of six "blocks" in the school and targeted the area of the art room. He clicked on a floor plan diagram of the room, and then clicked open a sidebar that provided information about the room’s current temperature, its "set point" temperature, and its heating schedule.

"Let’s say you want to bring the temperature up" in this room, he said, changing the set point for the temperature to 75 degrees. Clicking again, Johnson viewed a diagram of a booster coil, one of the individual units that controls air temperature in each room, as the system discharged air and the booster coils heated up, turning red and opening slightly on the screen.

Teachers in individual rooms can bring the temperature up or down for a period of several hours within a pre-set range, he said, but administrative staff set the set points and the heating schedule.

Flashing "alarm" buttons appear at the top of the left hand menu on the screen if a problem or irregularity occurs in a room. Clicking on the alarm button takes the user to a screen that pinpoints what is happening and gives the location.

Each block of the building can be set to its own heating schedule. "You can set the schedule for different areas to come on for events," Johnson said. "A single section of block "A" has its own schedule, for instance, and it’s possible to only schedule one block for heat on demand.

School secretary Tiana Taylor said she had already preset the system for Spring Break to turn heat to its minimum base temperature. Maintenance and administrative staff have access to the system controls.

The schools’ three boilers and pressure pumps, which provide heat to the system, are tracked on a separate screen. It shows how many boilers are firing to keep water at a pre-set temperature. Boilers are set to function in "lead, lag and standby" modes, depending on heating demands.

"Normally it’s running one boiler," Johnson said. "If it can’t keep up, a second one kicks in. That helps with fuel costs."

The pressure pumps in the new school have variable frequency drives, which keep the pumps running at the most efficient speed, even down to half speed. "Otherwise the pumps run at full speed all the time."