Southeastern Regional School District to Save $276,000 Annually Thanks to Comprehensive Energy Efficiency Improvements Engineered by Ameresco

South Easton, MA – The Southeastern Regional School District, located in the town of Easton, and Framingham-based Ameresco today unveiled $3.2 million in energy efficiency improvements at the Southeastern Regional Vocational-Technical High School that will save an estimated $276,000 in energy costs annually at the school. The energy savings that will occur as a result as of the improvements will pay for the cost of the efficiency upgrades over the 18 year life of the contract.

“Ameresco has been a great partner on this project,” said Luis Lopes, Superintendent of Southeastern Regional School District. “Not only has the project been on-time and within budget, but they have worked hard to maximize our investment including obtaining over $325,000 in rebates, and reducing our water consumption by over 50%. According to James Tassinari, Facility Engineer at Southeastern, the fact that there were no significant project overruns means that we can take the remaining contingency funds and apply them to even more energy-related projects.”

“We are pleased to have had the opportunity to work with the Southeastern Regional School District on this important project,” said David Anderson, Executive Vice President at Ameresco. “The energy improvements we’ve made through this partnership will save money while helping our environment by significantly reducing energy consumption.”

“Improving the energy efficiency of schools and other public buildings and facilities is the most important step municipalities can take to save taxpayer revenue while reducing their carbon footprint,” Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Phil Giudice said. “I commend the Southeastern Regional School District for undertaking this clean energy project.”

“Bay State Gas is proud to participate in a project that represents such great teamwork,” said Stephen Bryant, President, Bay State Gas. It is truly a win-win for everyone involved.”

“It’s exciting for us at National Grid to work with Southeastern Regional Technical High School and the Greater Brockton community,” said Fred Mason, Southeastern Massachusetts Regional Executive for National Grid. “There is so much potential here for energy savings, cost savings and, of course, student education. We believe that by involving these young people in the ‘How Sweet It Is’ program and making them aware of their energy use today, they will make more informed decisions in the future as we work together to slow climate change and preserve the environment.”

Ameresco, the premier energy services and renewable energy company in North America, handled all aspects of the project including the design and construction of all improvements. The efficiency measures include lighting retrofits and controls, water conservation, waste oil heaters and weatherization. A centerpiece of the project is the installation of a natural gas-fired 250-kW packaged combined heat and power (CHP) system and improvements to the HAVC system.

Under the contract, known as an Energy Performance Contract, the school district did not have to provide any up-front money to fund the energy efficiency improvements. Ameresco will be reimbursed from the guaranteed energy and operational cost savings generated by the project over the span of the contract.