ABM Offers $3.7M in Energy Savings to Georgia School District

Facility solutions provider ABM recently announced that it will be partnering with the Dooly County School System in Vienna, Ga., to form an Energy Performance Contracting program. The program will save the school district about $3.7 million in energy and operating cost savings over the next 20 years, according to a press release. The savings will come primarily from energy-saving infrastructure solutions and custodial and maintenance services.

“Our students deserve state-of-the-art facilities,” said Dooly County School System Superintendent Dr. Craig Lockhart. “This project, through an innovative solution, helps our community achieve more for each school, to perpetuate success for every student.”

The energy savings and reduction in operating costs will come through improved lighting, HVAC equipment, and controls at the district’s K–8 Academy and high school. It will also offer larger space for bus maintenance and upgrades to student athletic facilities such as additional bathrooms, new lighting, and improved playing surfaces. The project will also entail installing a new roof for the high-school gymnasium and a reconfigured HVAC system to extend the roof’s life and offer interior climate control.

“We not only improve infrastructure through projects like this for our clients, but we also protect and preserve those investments for students, teachers, and staff with ongoing maintenance and custodial services,” said ABM President of Education Valerie Burd.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Designing for Every Mind

    Learning environments have the power to shape not just what students know, but who they become. When a school is designed with genuine empathy—for the full range of ways students think, sense, and engage with the world—it becomes more than a building. It becomes a catalyst for growth, confidence, and belonging. That is the animating idea behind neurodiverse design, and it is one that is transforming how more architects and designers are thinking about school design.

  • Virginia Tech Tops Out New College of Engineering Building

    Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., recently celebrated the topping out of Mitchell Hall, which will soon stand as the largest College of Engineering building on campus, according to a news release. The university partnered with Skanska on the 285,500-square-foot facility, which has an expected completion date of winter 2028.

  • Q&A: How to Prevent Kitchen Grease Fires in Commercial Kitchens

    School cafeterias and university dining halls serve thousands of meals daily, relying on high-heat equipment like fryers, grills, and ovens. While these operations keep students fed, they also generate significant grease-laden vapors. Without proper controls, this grease becomes a silent fire threat. As a certified exhaust cleaning specialist and business coach who has helped hundreds of institutional facilities achieve NFPA 96 compliance, I emphasize that proactive grease management isn’t optional; it’s a core fire/life safety practice.

  • Tomball ISD Opens New Tomball West High School

    Tomball Independent School District in Tomball, Texas, recently celebrated the official opening of Tomball West High School, the district's third comprehensive high school, with a community ribbon-cutting ceremony, according to a district news release.