The Imperial Republican Out with the old and in with the new. That’s what’s going on at Chase County Schools as contractors begin a $2.661 million project to totally revamp the heating and cooling system at the school. Unit ventilators from 73 rooms in the school are beginning to pile up outside as the old ones are torn out to make way for the new ones. Gary Voss of Lincoln, pro­ject supervisor for TRANE of Omaha, said they have made good progress since starting the project Tuesday, May 29. The old boilers have all been removed along with two air handler units with one to go, and work is progressing on the room ventilator units.

1. SOLAMON ENERGY
HVAC project at Chase County
Schools well underway

2. • By Russ Pankonin
The Imperial Republican
Out with the old and in with the new.
That’s what’s going on at Chase County Schools as contractors begin a $2.661
million project to totally revamp the heating and cooling system at the school.
Unit ventilators from 73 rooms in the school are beginning to pile up outside as
the old ones are torn out to make way for the new ones.
Gary Voss of Lincoln, pro-ject supervisor for TRANE of Omaha, said they have
made good progress since starting the project Tuesday, May 29.
The old boilers have all been removed along with two air handler units with one to
go, and work is progressing on the room ventilator units.

3. • Geothermal hybrid unit
Voss said CCS schools will
be only the second school
in the state to incorporate
a geothermal unit in their
heating and cooling
system. Hershey did so
three years ago.
Overall, he said the new
system will be far more
energy efficient.

4. Geothermal hybrid unit
• Voss explained that a well will be drilled
outside of the boiler room. The system
will pull water from the well for both
heating and cooling and discharge water
back into the same well.
With the constant temperature of water,
heat units can be pulled from the water
during the heating season with heat units
being transferred back to the water in the
cooling season.
There will also be two backup boilers for
heating and an outside air-cooled heat
exchanger to assist with cooling.
When the school was built, the heating
and cooling system included just two
pipes to each ventilator. Today, a four-pipe
system would be used—one pair for
heating and one pair for cooling.
However, he said it’s unfeasible to install a
four-pipe system now.

5. • With a two-pipe system, that made temperature
control a real challenge on days when heat would be
needed in the morning and cooling in the afternoon.
Voss said the new unit ventilators installed in the
rooms will have the capability to bring in fresh air for
cooling on those days when the water lines are full of
hot water for heating.
In addition, the classrooms will now have carbon
dioxide sensors to measure air quality. If the carbon
dioxide in a room rises too high, the ventilator will
automatically open a flue to bring in fresh air into the
room.

6. Auditorium should be quiet
• Voss said one of the goals of the project was to reduce the
noise level in the auditor-ium. Now, when the units are turned
on for cooling, the noise generated by the units makes it
difficult to hear performances.
To reduce the noise, the air handling units will be placed
outside of the building with air brought in through new duct
work. That should help significantly, Voss said.
Work is progressing on a smooth pace and things will look a
lot different in just another two weeks, Voss added.

7. Bonds to pay for project
• The project will be paid for using bonds
through the school’s Qualified Capital Purpose
Undertaking Fund, which is outside the
school’s General Fund.
If the total amount is bonded, based on the
school district’s current valuation, it would
add a levy of around 5.15 cents per $100
valuation.
CCS is limited to a 5.2 cent levy in that bond
fund.