District 'ducks a bullet' with SMS boilers

Two years ago, boiler number one at Sisters Middle School developed a leak and had to be shut down, putting the full load on the backup boiler number two. The boilers were over 20 years old, and that was the fourth leak repaired in the last six years. The typical life span for this type of boiler is 20 to 30 years.

Running the heating and air conditioning for the entire middle school with no back-up system made everyone nervous.

In preparing a repair or replace request for bid, district Director of Operations Leland Bliss indicated that he would award points for creativity.

One of the bids came back with a deeply discounted proposal to replace the ailing boiler number one and, if done at the same time, replace the aging boiler number two for just the cost of the boiler itself, representing significant savings over having to install a new boiler on the second floor at a later date.

Bliss made a proposal to the board to replace both boilers and rebuild the entire control system which had never worked right since it was installed. After significant debate, the board approved the full replacement proposal, taking the funds from the Lundgren Mill property sale fund to cover the expense. Lundgren Mill funds can only be used for facilities improvement capital projects.

When the backup boiler number two was removed, it, too, was found to have a leak, and likely would have failed under the stress of the winter heating load - potentially leaving the middle school without heat for months.

"We ducked a bullet," said board chair Don Hedrick. "This was a win-win, and Leland, you are to be commended for your leadership in this (project)."

"I want to credit (board chair) Hedrick and (board member) Andrew Gorayeb for pushing the district to be more efficient," said Superintendent Jim Golden. Hedrick and Gorayeb, along with now retired long-time board member Glen Lasken, made up the facilities sub-committee that put together and reviewed the bid package for the middle school HVAC repair.

Middle school building users have complained for years about the "hot side of the building" and the "cold side of the building" due to the system's inability to control the heating and cooling between zones and classrooms. Principal Mark Stewart notes that in August/September it was not uncommon for the second floor temperatures to soar to 85 degrees in the afternoon.

"Now we are much more efficient in the building temperature and in our room temperatures. It is certainly a blessing, and it creates a better learning and teaching environment," said Stewart.

In contrast to the old full on-or-off system, Bliss can now monitor and adjust temperatures in individual classrooms and common areas with a web-based program that he can access from any computer, including his laptop. It takes him less than a minute to create schedules for special events and regular holidays. The long-ago installed heat recovery system now works, as does the middle-of-the-night pump-down that uses outside air to cool down the building during the night.

Bliss closed the project out with the board last week, coming in at more than $8,000 under the budgeted $335,000 for the project. Bliss also reported that the October electricity bill was one-half last year's bill.

Bliss reports that a locally based University of Washington professor has two of his UW students working on a proposal to investigate the feasibility of a biomass system for the middle school, much like the one that is performing so well at Sisters High School. This no-charge project will be completed yet this year.

With the middle school and elementary school control systems now working properly, Bliss will be focusing on getting the notorious high school HVAC system under similar control.