Hazel Green High School is one campus with Madison County Schools that has upgraded energy and infrastructure standards by an agreement with Schneider Electric. Darrell Long is principal for the 1,421 students in grades 9-12. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON COUNTY – The Madison County Schools district recently completed a large-scale improvement project for energy and infrastructure through an agreement with Schneider Electric.

The project involves the district’s K-12 population in 136 buildings across 30 campuses.

“Schneider Electric has seen an acceleration of Alabama communities leveraging energy savings performance contracts to help fund critical infrastructure renovations that they could not otherwise afford,” vice president Tammy Fulop said.

Upgrades for Madison County include new lighting, HVAC, building automation systems and water fixture commissioning, among other upgrades.

“With 136 buildings across 30 campuses, our facilities were facing much-needed improvements that we had been forced to put on hold because of a lack of funding. This ongoing project will be the largest of its kind in this state and is being paid for by savings generated through the improvements — a win-win for everyone,” Madison County Schools Superintendent Dr. David Copeland said.

The improvements “will reduce the system’s energy consumption by 40 percent, saving $40 million over the next 20 years,” Fulop said. With the first phase complete, the county school district recently signed a second phase of the contract, “which will reap additional energy and economic savings for the community.”

Fulop noted an emerging, new trend with southern states, Alabama in particular, progressing with energy efficiency.

For example, the City of Foley has implemented “a citywide energy management system and major HVAC replacements to enable more energy- and cost-efficient operations of buildings ranging from City Hall to libraries, fire stations and justice center,” she said. “In total, the project will cut energy costs by 33 percent and save the city $4.2 million over the next 20 years.”

Since 2012, school districts in Jackson, Limestone and Etowah counties also implemented several projects for energy efficiency

“The environmental impact of these projects is equivalent to taking tens of thousands of cars off the road or planting tens of thousands of acres of trees,” Fulop said.

For more information, visit schneider-electric.com.