Waterbury Public Schools

Case Study

ABOUT

Located in Connecticut, Waterbury Public Schools is an urban school district educating 18,000 children in 29 schools.

OPPORTUNITY

WPS wanted energy savings measures with quick paybacks and rapid deployment.

SOLUTION

1,187 BERT Smart Plugs Running Threshold, Measurement, Control, and Analysis

RESULTS

BERT’s plug load Energy Savings Measure had the quickest payback, over three times faster than the project average.

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Faced with an inefficient energy-related infrastructure, Waterbury Public Schools (WPS) sought to prioritize and implement critically needed energy savings measures as quickly as possible.

The WPS district selected NORESCO, a national leader in energy efficiency and energy infrastructure solutions, as its Qualified Energy Service Provider (ESCO). The $30 million performance contract included plug load control, new boilers and chillers, energy management system upgrades, and lighting retrofits/replacements.

Offering the ideal combination of quick payback and rapid implementation, the BERT plug load management system was one of the first Energy Savings Measures (ESMs) to be completed at WPS.

In most cases, BERT is able to complete a plug load control ESMs within six weeks. One reason BERT is able to complete projects so rapidly is because of the BERT toolkit that automates the entire process from audit to installation. When an investment grade audit is conducted, the audit tool verifies wireless coverage and records the plug load devices in each room. This data is used to generate a savings sheet for each building summarizing the number of each device type and calculates annual energy savings.

Information from the audit is then shared with the installation partner letting installers know the specific locations for each Bert before arriving. The installation tool records the building, room or office number, MAC address of each Bert, device type, and other installation notes. During the installation process, the BERT support team remotely monitors the each new Bert and verifies it is are communicating with the server software.

The BERT plug load control ESM had the fastest payback of the 14 ESMs implemented at WPS.