Yuba College Enrolls AirCare Plus for Energy Efficient Upgrade

HVAC tune-up program helps school earn more than $42,000 in estimated annual energy savings.

Yuba College, a popular community college in Marysville, California, is taking a crash course in energy efficiency. The school kicked off its energy-saving efforts by working with AirCare Plus to improve the efficiency of its HVAC equipment (Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning). AirCare Plus is an innovative program that offers comprehensive HVAC tune-ups free of charge to small to medium-sized commercial electric customers in PG&E territory. The program is able to provide these services at no cost because of its utility partnerships.

“Working with AirCare Plus was easy,” said Bill Granger, who handles maintenance control for Yuba College. “We gained better knowledge of our equipment. It’s nice knowing that all of our equipment is working properly in the end, and that the equipment is now more efficient.”

For Yuba College, the AirCare Plus HVAC inspection presented the perfect opportunity to improve system performance, lower utility bills, and also reduce the school’s environmental impact. All told, over 80 HVAC units across the campus were inspected and adjusted for optimal performance and energy efficiency. These adjustments will save the school an estimated 285,125 kWh annually, which translates to approximately $42,768.75 in savings per year.

Included with the no-cost services AirCare Plus provided the school, each HVAC unit was inspected, diagnosed and serviced to improve performance. Many of the serviced HVAC units required thermostat modifications, or were upgraded to include new programmable thermostats at no extra charge to the school. The programmable thermostats automatically adjust settings based on the occupancy schedule. This enables the system to maintain optimal occupant comfort while also ensuring the HVAC unit is only running when it has to.

Other upgrades made during the tune-up included refrigerant charge adjustments, and optimization of the economizer, which enables further savings by using the outside air as a form of “free cooling.”
Yuba College learned of the AirCare Plus program through PG&E. Said Granger, “Our PG&E Rep approached us about the Program, and we liked the fact that a lot of free work could be done to help us upgrade our HVAC system.”

About AirCare Plus:
AirCare Plus is a comprehensive program designed to optimize the performance of all major energy-using components of commercial HVAC units. The program is administered by PECI, and serves as an adaptable utility offering that can be applied throughout the United States. For more information, please visit www.aircare-plus.com.