Plug Smart conducted an industrial grade audit for Great Oaks Vocational School District at their Live Oaks campus. Great Oaks is one of the largest technical school districts in the United States, with four campuses in the greater Cincinnati area. The Live Oaks educational facility, located in the north east section of Cincinnati, offers youth development programs for career and technical training, as well as evening classes for adult workforce development.
Plug Smart conducted several walk-throughs and a detailed billing analysis of the Live Oaks campus in order to understand the campus wide energy use. During the walkthroughs, the Plug Smart team was able to successfully log and observe the real time energy use of the light fixtures, boilers, and rooftop units. Plug Smart also conducted thermal imaging of the facility (as seen below) to ensure that the facility was properly insulated.
The Plug Smart team found many Energy Conservation Measures (ECM’s) at Live Oaks which included a lighting retrofit, waste heat recovery for rooftop units, Vendingmiser controls on vending machines, solar photovoltaic panel installation, and energy management system upgrades (demand based ventilation and a demand limiting strategy). When increasing a facility’s energy efficiency in Ohio, a company will usually see rebate money from their utility provider. In this particular audit, the lighting upgrade alone was eligible for an $8,000 rebate from Duke Energy.
