District 225 approved a necessary project to upgrade the Building Automatic System (BAS), which will be coming to South in the near future, Casey Wright, Associate Principal for Administrative Services, said. With a timeline of three years, the project to update the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electrical, and lighting systems began in June 2023 and is expected to finish in September 2025.
Planning first began five years ago to gather information covering costs versus the benefits because of the large-scale and expenses of the project, Wright explained. Although the total cost is $4,011,155, after ComEd rebates ESSER III funds, the net cost is reduced to $2,861,155, Ptak and Gravel said.
As the last update to the BAS was in 2001, the current software presents challenges, including a lack of replacement parts and facilities with inadequate functionality, Dr. Kim Ptak, Director of Operations, and Dr. R.J. Gravel, Deputy Superintendent, said. Additionally, the outdated system functions slowly due to the obsolete computer technology, Brian Murdy, Buildings and Grounds Manager, said.
“We are a little nervous and keeping our fingers crossed that nothing major happens [to the current system] because if [something] does, we are in big trouble,” Murdy said.
The system’s improvements will be more visible behind the scenes, Murdy said. Although the difference may be apparent to students and staff, the BAS system provides energy productivity, lower operating and maintenance costs, greater occupancy comfort, and improved indoor air quality, Ptak and Gravel said.
“[We will] go through the program and [see] if there is anything we can add or change to make this unit of machinery work more efficiently,” Murdy said.
The largest challenge deals with progressing the upgrade without disrupting the students, Murdy said. At Glenbrook North, where operation has begun during the school day, the electricians and computer technicians have to scramble to rewire and reprogram smoothly to make everything work, Murdy added.
“The goal is to make it as comfortable as [we] can for [the students],” Murdy said.
