Just 42 isle classrooms of planned 1,000 have AC
DENNIS ODA / AUG. 2015
Just 42 isle classrooms so far have air conditioning under Gov. Ige’s plan to cool 1,000 rooms this year.
The state Department of Education has solicited air-conditioning bids for more than 800 classrooms under the governor’s ambitious goal of cooling 1,000 classrooms by year-end, but only about 40 classrooms so far have been cooled.
The department says 42 classrooms statewide have been air-conditioned, and contracts for another 25 classrooms have been awarded, according to a progress report scheduled to be presented today to the Board of Education. Cooling projects covering 832 classrooms are currently out for bid, and the remaining solicitations to reach 1,000 classrooms are scheduled to go out over the next few months.
“We’re pressing forward,” DOE communications specialist Brent Suyama told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “We’re trying to get all the projects done before the beginning of next school year, and we’re pushing past 1,000 classrooms.”
| THE HOTTEST SCHOOLS
The Department of Education has identified 33 schools that are most in need of heat-abatement efforts, which include air conditioning. Here’s the DOE’s priority list of hottest schools: Ewa Beach Elementary Ilima Intermediate Campbell High Kamaile Academy Kaimiloa Elementary Nimitz Elementary Mokulele Elementary Pearl Harbor-Kai Elementary Lehua Elementary Waimalu Elementary Aliamanu Elementary Aliamanu Middle Waipahu High Ewa Elementary Barbers Point Elementary Waipahu Intermediate Pearl Harbor Elementary August Ahrens Elementary Waipahu Elementary Waialua High & Intermediate Leihoku Elementary Honowai Elementary Nanakuli Elementary Nanakuli High & Intermediate Kaunakakai Elementary Kilohana Elementary Manana Elementary Princess Nahienaena Elementary Lahaina Intermediate Lihikai Elementary Kekaha Elementary Kahakai Elementary Maui High |
He said the report reflects a snapshot of the department’s progress. Referring to the categories for classroom projects out for bid and those awarded and completed, Suyama said, “It gives people a sense for which direction we’re going. You’re not going to see each one go up each month. There might be a couple of weeks of nothing, and then all of sudden, you’re going to get hundreds all at once.”
The targeted classrooms are spread across 33 schools on a priority list of the state’s hottest campuses. Ewa Beach Elementary, Ilima Intermediate and Campbell High schools — all in Ewa Beach — are in the top three spots.
The “cool schools” initiative — pledged by Gov. David Ige in his State of the State speech in January and subsequently funded with $100 million from the Legislature — initially was envisioned to be completed by December. But the project faced setbacks after an initial round of proposals came in significantly over budget this summer.
DOE officials attributed the high bids to increased labor costs due to the state’s construction boom and an initially limited number of companies that were prequalified to bid on the work, but some general contractors complained that the department’s project specifications were overly complex. The department put most of the work out for bid again and doubled the pool of prequalified contractors to 36 companies from 18.
Ige said despite the delays he’s encouraged by the progress.
“The governor remains committed to cooling public school classrooms in a cost-efficient manner and continues to work with the DOE to make it happen,” Mike McCartney, the governor’s chief of staff, said in an emailed statement. “Despite the slow start, the DOE is on track to cool more than 1,000 classrooms by next school year.”
Air conditioning is one part of the DOE’s heat abatement program, which aims to cool classroom temperatures to 76 degrees. Mechanical cooling is planned for classrooms where heat abatement efforts — such as ceiling fans, solar-powered vents to draw out hot air, and heat-reflective roof systems — don’t sufficiently bring down the temperature.
Those projects, which are separate from the 1,000-classrooms initiative, are ongoing, said DOE spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz.
“We understand that the governor’s put a number forward, but overall, when we do reach that number, that’s not going to stop the initiative to continue to try to ensure that our schools across the state are comfortable for our students and our staff,” she said.
Of the 11,806 DOE classrooms across the state, more than 4,400 have air conditioning. Fifty-one schools — or 20 percent of DOE schools — had at least 90 percent of their classrooms air-conditioned as of Nov. 1.
Besides air conditioning, Suyama said, the legislation providing $100 million for the “cool schools” initiative also requires investing in “other heat abatement measures, energy-efficient lighting and other energy efficiency measures” to help offset energy use.
“We’re still moving forward with the other parts of the law as well,” he said.
34 responses to “Just 42 isle classrooms of planned 1,000 have AC”
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Bwahahhaa. What do you expect from a governor that pulls a 100% renewables goal out of his hat then immediately obliterates the local solar industry? More great stuff to come folks!
Like the rail, the $100M is just the start. Wait till they start to get the electric bill, then the service and maintenance agreements. Hawaii schools missed the boat when they could have/should have installed PV.
I believe that the new air conditioning systems are required to operate on solar, that’s why the bids are complex, which makes them more costly initially and takes longer to go through the bid review process.
Even if designed for PV only, there must be electrical backup for the times clouds block the sun, stopping the power flow.
Time will tell if the required preventive maintenance will be done. Lets not forget the Nei has a decades long track record of willfully failing to maintain infrastructure. Prime reason why so many or our schools look 10th world at best.
Hey, where is Ige? Haven’t heard a peep from for some time now…
Do these people understand the impact all those new AC units will have on climate change. If the DOE continues at this pace the Koolaus will be beach front property in 20 years. I think the guv’ should require that each of those air conditioners be run from wind or solar produced energy.
Exactly.
All this A/C is contradictory to our clean energy mandate goals by Gov Ige.
Its like the Obama ARRA stimulus package in 2009, which was conflicting with his ITC Chinese solar trade tariff blunder.
Bachi to Obama, Hillary, Solarworld, and Bonterra.
Contradictory policies abound. What next? Iwase going back to NEM to makeup the economic loss? That would actually be a good thing.
https://piie.com/publications/papers/hufbauer201003.pdf
Just checked the earlier articles on this topic and the new AC units are required to be PV powered, so your point is moot.
All this means when the clouds block the sun or panels get covered with dirt/dust/ power level output will drop, turning off the units. Battery back up is good, but further adds to required maintenance costs.
And as we all know, the Nei willfully fails to maintain infrastructure as in our roads, water and sewer lines, Zip Mobile, list is endless.
Lets see how well these units function as the years go by.
If you believe that you must have voted for Waldo Clinton.
CEI, go back and look at the dire predictions of global warmers (now climate changers), when it first took root. Waikiki should have been under water already. I guess its easy to predict doomsday scenarios when you can change data when you’re wrong, because it’s computer models. Or you can be so way off, but it doesn’t matter because the predicted outcome is past everyones’ lifetime. However, in the mean time, as long as we promote the fear (something I find funny, because the liberals accuse Trump of this), there are lots of money to be made by the fear pushers.
A proposal was presented to DOE and State to cool classrooms for under $10,000 each. If this was accepted hundreds of schools could be completed in months.
As we found out later, the $10k failed to consider the school’s aging electrical system’s capacity, uninsulated & leaking walls/doors/windows, heat transfer through the structure, on and on.
It was an estimate to get the schools to bite, then load the work with change orders to drastically increase the cost.
Kudos to Gov. Ige and his staff for delivering on a hot issue. Rare in this day and age when campaign promises are quickly forgotten once politicians are elected. The gov’s engineering background is a definite plus. He understands the technical issues involved in not only cooling our schools but the importance of energy efficiency as well as sustainabilty. Kudos, too, to Mrs. Ige who’s an educator and a staunch supporter of our public schools. Hopefully more citizens in private sector technical fields will make the financial sacrifice and enter politics to help us solve long-standing problems.
Actually they have not delivered. It took outcries from the public and HSTA to get this project started in the first place and then this expensive initiative is proceeding at two speeds…Stop and Slow.
Has anyone ever wondered, how everyone survived, before air conditioning?
After all, great-grandparents, grandparents, and to some degree parents, went to school in classrooms, that did not have air conditioning.
I guess, I might sound like the generation, who walked to school further than today’s students.
Travel to other countries like Thailand, Myanmar, Africa, India, others, and you see children glad to be in class even if the weather is hot.
Our problem was shoddy classroom design back in the day which turned them into “Heat Boxes” versus design for self cooling
Just another day in the little 10th world of Hawaii Nei.
Localguy, I think you nailed it. Poor classroom design. The public schools that I attended on Oahu were made of wood with huge windows all around to let in cool air and let out hot air. As after school monitors, we had to use these long poles with a small hook on the end to close all the windows. These old matchboxes were torn down and replaced with concrete sweat boxes. Bad design. We should go back to the old plantation wooden structures that were designed for our climate.
Problem with wooden structures: Too many hooligan drop-out students hanging around the old campus at night with nothing to do. What happens? Take a match to a portable and you have a two-alarm bonfire. Happened at my school, my son’s school and I’m sure other folk’s schools too.
That was in the old days. Today we have fire resistant coatings and paints to use on wooden structures.
Plus today’s requirements for sprinkler systems would work to reduce/stop fire damage. Not to mention smoke alarms would bring the fire department when smoke is detected, sprinklers go off.
And finally, it would take more than a single match to burn a wooden structure down. Next time you have a piece of wood, 1×2, 2×4, etc, try and get it burning with only one match. No modifying the wood, just as is. Not going to happen.
Back then it didn’t have all the pollutants in the air, most schools were wooden buildings, teachers looked and acted like teachers, parents were involved in the education of their children, children were taught to respect their instructors and others, etc. etc. etc. kinda went off subject but….
Yeah, back in the day when I was in school AC was a luxury. Most people did not have it, now its the norm…..passing it on to their kids. I remember sweating in class when it was hot….even tho I make above avg income (obviously AC was not needed to learn to work hard and be dedicated) I still now mo AC!! Kids to spoiled today, sad to say.
Did anyone in the State’s braintrust consider standardizing on the models, or at least the manufacturer, used across 1,000 classrooms? The RFP should have gone to the manufacturers of the A/C units and let them quote a set of standardized installation, maintenance contracts and work with their authorized dealers for installation.
Nah, I guess not.
I can just see 999 different installations (no doubt one will be the same by coincidence) with different manufacturers, model units and spare parts and expertise needed to maintain them.
You should know by now how anything which would save taxpayer’s money and increase efficiency is strictly prohibited by HGEA as it would take work away from dues paying union members.
Just another day in the backwards Nei.
If the state says AC by the end of the year means end of summer.
What year? Couldn’t be next year.
Funny picture, reminds me of the old gag photos from National Lampoon Magazine, everybody pointing at the air conditioner.
Looks great in the picture though!! bwahahaahaaaaaaa
I hope they started with the hottest class rooms first …
I doubt it…that would make too much sense.
Starting today, they’d have to cool at least 21 classrooms/day to hit their end-of-year goal. Ha!
Mmmm…let see..with the State they probably didn’t think about how they’re going to secure theses AC units from being stolen…,Yup,,,they didn’t !!!
I’m all for providing comfortable classrooms for our children. However, why all of a sudden in the last year is air conditioning classrooms something we must have? In the past 50 years, Honolulu maximum and average temperatures in September (hottest month) have not changed much. Temperatures in the 1980s were slightly higher than today.