Weatherford College in Weatherford, Texas, has received an Energy Star Partner award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its conservation efforts. The two-year college is in the second year of a 10-year contract with Johnson Controls that is expected to save the school as much as $3.4 million in energy and operating expenses.
The upgrades at Weatherford, the oldest community college west of the Mississippi River, include a building-automation system, HVAC replacements, lighting retrofits, and water and electric conservation measures.
The company set up an on-campus office while the new equipment was being installed and created a training program for the college's maintenance staff to improve energy-use habits.
The improvements "have freed up our time so that we may focus on our core mission," says Don Huff, president of the college. "Education is our business, not facilities management."
