CASE STUDY
SIDNEY CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Location: Sidney, OH
The Client
The Sidney City School district, home of the Yellow Jackets, serves approximately 3,500 students in the communities of Sidney, Port Jefferson, and Maplewood, OH.
The Challenge
The District’s facilities at the high school, middle school, and administrative offices were failing – they needed to replace and improve the existing, end-of-life fluorescent lighting systems with new, efficient LED fixtures. While the project had been in the district’s upcoming permanent improvement plans already, administrators expedited the timeline to take advantage of a number of timesensitive opportunities including a state of Ohio grant for energy efficiency projects and utility incentives that are due to expire before the end of the year.
The Solution
The District worked with Plug Smart, an Ohio-based energy services company, to qualify their project and secure $215,000 in grant funds. Plug Smart also oversaw the design and construction of the project, assembling a local team of well-qualified distribution partners and competitive installation contractors to meet the grant program requirements and secure utility incentives without impacting the District’s plans for reopening this school year. The newly implemented equipment includes a variety of LED technologies. With all the new lights carrying a 10-year warranty, these improvements will also eliminate the now-frequent service calls for the existing 15-year old systems, reducing the strain on the District’s maintenance resources. The energy savings analysis conducted by Plug Smart suggested that the District will reduce its lighting energy costs by nearly 70% by making these improvements.