State Policies
The West Virginia School Building Authority (SBA) provides funds for the construction and maintenance of school facilities across all 55 counties in the state. There are several funding mechanisms in place for projects with Needs Grants as the primary pathway for funding major capital improvements. The state maintains the Policy Procedures Handbook which provides thorough information related to the SBA funding process, application requirements, and the roles of key project participants. Each Local Education Agency (LEA) is required to develop and submit a Comprehensive Educational Facilities Plan (CEFP) to the state every 10 years.
West Virginia has established an annual energy reporting requirement that pertains to all SBAfunded projects involving the total renovation or replacement of HVAC systems. Such data is gathered to help LEAs understand which systems and equipment should be prioritized in the future. Requirements for utilizing state grants in coordination with Energy Performance Savings Contracts (ESPCs) are also listed in the handbook. LEAs can utilize the template RFP which helps to simplify the process for school districts seeking to work on ESPCs.
Utilizing school aid means that LEAs must adhere to the Quality and Performance Standards from the WV SBA. This document was published in 2008 and last updated in 2013. These standards outline certain requirements for energy systems including aligning projects with the latest ASHRAE 90.1 standard that has been adopted by the state and commissioning requirements for HVAC projects that cost more than $1,000,000.
Highlighting Successes
West Virginia has 55 ENERGY STAR certified schools and 3 LEED certified schools.
Feature Your High Performance School Design Work
Are you an architect or engineer who has worked on a High Performance School in this state? You can download and fill out our questionnaire and NEEP will use it to complete a case study, highlighting your firm's exemplary work on high performance schools. We use these case studies on our website, webinars, and conference presentations, and often invite architects or engineers to speak about their work in these venues.
For More Information
The High Performance Schools Exchange offers presentations and trainings to design and building professionals as well as school administrators and committees. These are available at no cost and can be scheduled by contacting Carolyn Sarno at csarno@neep.org or at (781) 860-9177 x119 or John Balfe at jbalfe@neep.org or at (781) 860-9177 x109.