HART DISTRICT EXAMINES NEW ENERGY SYSTEM.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

The Hart High School District faces a tough question in modernizing older campuses and planning new schools: Is a top-of-the-line energy system worth the expense if it means little maintenance over the years?

A local company has proposed a cost-efficient, cogeneration system to serve Hart High and Placerita Junior High schools, both with several buildings in need of modernization.

The system is initially expensive, but school board members said last week they were interested in hearing the company's proposals.

``It's the kind of thing that's very hard to not be interested in,'' said Lew White, facilities coordinator for the William S. Hart Union High School District. ``But there's a horrible obstacle - that's the initial funding.''

Educational Energy Systems approached the district about replacing Hart High's heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system with a modern plant that would also generate electricity ``very economically'' using natural gas to run engines and generators, White said.

The district supplied the company with statistics on energy consumption districtwide and the Hart district's modernization plans for its high schools and junior highs.

In his report, White said studies recommended Hart use a ground-mounted chiller system rather than the roof-mounted air-conditioning systems that are common in schools.

Modernization and earthquake repairs are under way or in the planning stages at the Hart High School auditorium, Placerita and other district campuses. The effort ties in with a state program to upgrade school buildings that are more than 30 years old.

The 1940s-era auditorium needs air conditioning, and district staff suggested a central chiller plant could serve other buildings as well.

In his report, White said that Educational Energy Systems proposed a way to modernize the heating and cooling systems at Hart and Placerita that would be a ``better system at lower overall cost.''

This cogeneration system could also heat the pool at Newhall Park and provide electrical energy, White said in his report.

The board as well as the staff had several concerns, foremost among them funding - specifically how much modernization money the state will contribute and how much of the bill will be left for the school district to pay.

The systems that EES proposed ``have much longer design lives, are easier and less costly to maintain, and operate with lower energy costs,'' White's report stated.

However, the proposed heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system ``is much more costly to purchase and install than the types of equipment that are used in district schools at the present time,'' his report said.

``It's an issue the board will have to decide as we plan new schools,'' White said. ``Will we put more money into the mechanics of the systems up front to be more efficient in the long run?''

EES, he added, is willing to work with the district on a manageable payment schedule, spreading the costs over years, White said.

One of the proposal's strong points is that the system EES recommended has been used with good results at high schools and colleges across California, including College of the Canyons. ``(It) is proven technology that has been in use for many years throughout the country,'' White said in his report.

Hart, Placerita, Canyon High and Sierra Vista Junior High are eligible for state funding for modernization. The question is when that money would become available - White expects it would not be enough to cover the costs of equipment and installation. In that likelihood, the district would have to pay a ``significant'' balance.

The central co-generation plant would be installed at Hart and Placerita, connected by hot water lines running through Newhall Park, with a possible connection to the park swimming pool, White said.

Natural gas-fueled engines would drive generators, and electricity produced by those generators would run an electric chiller plant. It would produce ice overnight, which would be stored for use in cooling the school buildings during the Santa Clarita Valley's hot summer days.

Heat from the plant's engines would provide hot water for warming buildings at Hart, along with supplying hot water for Newhall Park and Placerita Junior High. The system also would provide heating and cooling at Placerita.