Options for mechanical system upgrades

Several governments grappling with aging mechanical systems were profiled in a recent U.S. Communities webinar. The online presentation spotlighted a U.S. Communities national cooperative contract that features Trane’s heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) products and services.

The lead procurement agency on the contract is the Harford County, Md., public schools system. Sherry Ramsey Downen, the Harford schools’ procurement specialist, noted that the cooperative contract was advertised nationally as a $150 million opportunity.

The national coop’s team evaluated the responses to the contract solicitation. The team included procurement experts and HVAC technology practitioners from the Harford district, North Carolina State University, Fairfax (Va.) County and Newport Beach, Calif. city officials.

The contract’s scope of work covered two needs, Downen says. The first covered the North Harford Middle School chiller project. The second, national in scope, required that a vendor offer a comprehensive array of HVAC products and services across the U.S.

Products specified in the pact include: chillers, air handling devices terminal devices, replacement coils, dedicated outdoor air systems, ductless variable refrigerant volume units, unitary systems that include heating, cooling and fan sections, parts and aftermarket products. The pact requires that the vendor can install and service the equipment.

Vendors had the option to respond to both the local and national pieces or separately. Downen says scoring for the cooperative pact was weighted at 60 percent technical and 40 percent for cost.

The team of evaluators considered a variety of metrics. These included price, quality, financial information and financial stability of the vendor and vendor performance. “We did do a comparison with other national cooperative contracts. Based on our price evaluation, Trane was rated the lowest in price,” Downen said.

Success Stories

There’s no shortage of public sector facilities that have replaced old systems with Trane equipment, says Christopher Teller, regional program manager for strategic programs at Trane. He spotlighted four public sector projects in the webinar, including:

Texas State Technical College—The company helped the college replace aging infrastructure that had not been regularly maintained. The college got $600,000 in energy incentive funding from the state and reduced energy consumption by 25 percent. Overall savings achieved: $344,000 per year. The project was completed during a major facility expansion. Trane designed and installed a new chiller plant with new air handlers, lighting retrofits and new building controls and worked with local contractors.

Wyoming, Ohio city schools—After unreliable and outdated HVAC systems were replaced, the schools saved  $81,000 in energy and operations costs yearly, increased system reliability and an improved learning environment for students. Project managers used state incentive funding plus rebates to pay for the upgrade. Contractors were able to complete some lighting and water system upgrades through the project. Trane provided project management, a turnkey solution with new equipment and controls and a service agreement.

Brown County, Minn.—After years of deferred maintenance, the HVAC systems and controls in county facilities stopped working. Trane relied on local contractors to implement the project, which helped reduced energy costs and delivered better air quality and temperature control. Building occupants now enjoy increased comfort. The project included a lighting upgrade in six county buildings. Incentives monies from the lighting upgrade helped fund the whole facility renovation, including new equipment and controls purchases. The project helped the county reduce its utility expenditures by 16 percent, year over year, which translates into $77,000 savings annually.

The cooperative contract is titled: HVAC Products, Installation, Services and Related Products and Services. The contract number is 15-JLP-023. The initial three-year term is from Oct. 1, 2015 to Sept. 30 2018. The contract has an option to renew for two additional two-year periods. The RFP for the contract was issued June 11, 2015.

Go here to listen to the webinar on the Trane-U.S. Communities cooperative contract as well as other U.S. Communities webinars.

Trane product expansion

Trane is expanding its CenTraVac centrifugal chiller portfolio for large buildings in the U.S. and Canada. Go here for details.

Michael Keating is Senior Editor at Government Product News, an American City & County sister brand.

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