Earlier this fall, as a precaution during the coronavirus pandemic, the School Committee called for a study of the heating and ventilation system at the Bromfield School to ensure that as much fresh air as possible was circulating in classrooms and offices. At its meeting last Monday, the committee received both the study results and an update on work that began taking place even while the study was in progress. To keep the work moving forward, the committee approved up to $75,000 from the Devens fund.
R.W. Sullivan Engineering submitted a performance review on the several dozen heating and ventilation units, heat recovery units, and rooftop units at Bromfield. The report identified at least eight units that urgently required maintenance or repairs. Some of those units were completely inoperable, providing no air change for the rooms to which they were connected.
All HVAC units are now working, Superintendent Linda Dwight reported, thanks to the efforts of the school facilities director, Patrick Harrigan, and electrician Dave Woodsum. The two men have installed new motors, fans, and belts in many units. Harrigan has spent hours on the Bromfield roof, Dwight said, and was even working there while Special Town Meeting was in session on the field below.
Since school opened in September, the HVAC system has been starting early and running on high to maximize fresh air. “These units turn and turn and turn all day long,” Harrigan told the committee. “They work tremendously hard.”
Except for the four new units installed in the past three years to improve ventilation in the science labs, the Sullivan report says all the HVAC units are at least 18 to 22 years old. According to Harrigan, the units have an expected lifetime of 20 years.
At last June’s Town Meeting, voters approved a School Committee request for $150,000 to replace some of the air handling units. Dwight said she plans to ask the Capital Planning and Investment Committee for the same amount for next year, to continue replacing the aging units.
For the immediate HVAC needs, the School Committee voted unanimously to authorize Harrigan to spend up to $75,000 to replace fans and motors and make other repairs. The money will come from the Devens fund, the money MassDevelopment pays the Harvard schools to educate children who live in Devens. Dwight pointed out that running the HVAC system to maximize fresh air and opening windows whenever possible will also lead to higher heating costs as the weather turns colder.
