Two bids for the update of the air-conditioning system at Austin High School were accepted by the Austin School Board on Monday.

Tuesday, June 26, 2001

Two bids for the update of the air-conditioning system at Austin High School were accepted by the Austin School Board on Monday.

Board members also heard a progress report from Seimens on the technology services project.

District architect Paul Johnson spoke for the facilities subcommittee, and presented the bid acceptance package to the board.

The first bid, for $149,200 by Cristopia of San Dimas, Calif., covered the cost of 235,000 new thermal storage units, or ice balls, which will be inserted into the cooling system at AHS. The second, for $26,500 by M.J. O’Connor of Austin, covered the cost of inserting the balls into the cooling system.

Neither bid had any competition, although Cryogel, of San Diego, Calif., turned in an informal bid for the ice balls at $89,925.

"We put them together as a bid with separate requirements," Johnson said.

Board member Kathy Green wondered whether the new balls would solve the problem that plagued the old balls, which cracked after only seven years.

"If this fails also, what would be the next step?" she asked.

Other board members echoed her concern.

"It’s the same question my wife asked before I left, Kathy," board member Richard Lees said.

"These ice balls that we’re going to get are a different design than the previous ones. How long do we expect them to last?" board President David Simonson asked.

The district might have abandoned the cooling system, or it might have added new chillers and done a retrofit.

Facilities director Bruce Huffer said that a lot of similar facilities have had problems with Cryogel products, but only a few radically changed their cooling systems.

"If it’s a large corporation with a lot of money to spend, they can be a little more aggressive in how they approach these things," Huffer said. "If were going to retrofit, were talking significant money we’re investing," he continued.

Bernie Eikmeier, an engineer with Seimens, who is working on a different project, echoed Huffer’s comments.

"Looking at the options is when things get real ugly real fast," he said.

The cheapest remedy for the broken system is ice ball replacement.

"This is going to cause the least amount of change to the existing system," Superintendent James Hess said.

The district hopes the new ice balls last longer than the previous ones.

"These have a five-year warranty, which is a plus," Huffer said, affirming Hess’ statements..

"At today’s rates, we’re saving around $20,000 a year with this technology. We’re still committing ourselves to reducing the peak rate, and it helps the community peak also," Huffer said.

Simonson also wondered whether there was going to be an easier way to examine the new ice balls, which are in an underground storage container.

"They are not accessible at all. A very small percentage of them can be retrieved and examined with a great amount of fuss," Hess said.

"One of the big drawbacks in changing your system entirely, is that there’s just no place to put the system," Eikmeier said. Seimens plans on leaving room for cooling systems as they replace the boilers at the high school.

The new ice balls are being paid for in part by remaining funds in the loan that the district took out to pay for the entire Seimens energy conservation project.

Board member Larry Anderson asked Hess whether the district had considered suing Cryogel.

"We didn’t feel like that was going to be fruitful avenue for us," Hess said.

After the acceptance of the Cristopia bid and the ice ball storage approval, Eikmeier updated the board on the status of the Seimens project.

Four boilers are being removed from AHS’ physical plant by Bustad’s Crane Service. One was taken out whole, while the other three have to be demolished and removed in pieces, which Seimens hopes to complete by the end of the week.

On Aug. 1, the local contractor, L and M Boiler, will install six new boilers, which should be on line by Oct. 1.

"The high school was our highest priority because of the scope of the work," Eikmeier said. "We’ll move over to Neveln, and demolish that boiler, and then Southgate to demolish that boiler," he continued.

Seimens plans on installing the new boilers as soon as the old ones are demolished.

"Our goal is to have all three schools operating by the Oct. 1 deadline," Eikmeier said. "We will not be interfering with the educational process once school starts," he continued.

M.J. O’Connor will work on electric coils at the high school and Southgate, and THC controls will work on the air handling in district buildings. The old boilers will be given to L and M, which will scrap them.

Call Sam Garchik at 434-2233 or e-mail him at newsroom@austindailyherald.com.