The Nampa School District, located in Nampa, ID, knew they needed to make a change. The District wanted
to address indoor air quality (IAQ) and energy use in their schools and facilities, but they weren’t sure where
to start. ATS has been a partner to the District for over 20 years, providing building controls and preventative
maintenance. To address the District’s needs, ATS provided a facility analytics service that tracks, compares,
and interprets HVAC system data across the District’s properties, allowing the staff to visualize and understand
massive amounts of data easily. With the analytics service, the District was able to document and baseline its
IAQ data to make improvements. The District not only gained detailed insight on IAQ, but also on temperature
settings that affect students and teachers, and overall building performance. Armed with the data from the
analytics service, District staff were able to begin making meaningful changes to facility operations.

The initial analytic service success led to the District adding energy meters to every school. Adding meters
enabled the District and ATS to perform ongoing energy analysis using the analytics platform. Now, the District
is able to compare buildings and determine which schools need attention and pinpoint the exact equipment
that needs to be investigated. After analysis, it was discovered that even schools with the exact same footprint
had discrepancies in how the buildings operated. This analysis provided the data needed to make corrections to
equipment operations and schedules without having to sort through spreadsheets and building management
system trend logs in order to align the facilities’ energy usage.

Controls Upgrades & Data-Driven Decision Making

A major initiative for the District is to modernize its control systems across its schools. This effort has been
ongoing for several years. By utilizing the analytic service from ATS, District staff can make data-driven decisions
on which schools need to be addressed first. This allows the District to focus funds on schools that most need
repairs or updates.

“The District is much more diagnostic and data-driven than we have been in the past. ATS has been a big
component of that,” said Cortney Stauffer, Executive Director of Operations for Nampa School District. “We’re
able to have evidence-based discussions with the school board, which led to a reduction in energy usage and
related spending while also providing an improved learning environment for teachers and students.”

As one of the larger energy consumers in the region, the District staff feels a responsibility to the community to
run efficient schools while providing safe and comfortable learning environments. While the District’s controls
upgrades are ongoing, staff now have the information needed to make informed decisions that both save money
and enhance the classroom environment.

Future Planning at the District

With the analytics platform in place, the District is focused on improving operations and increasing energy efficiency across all District properties. With ongoing service and analytic review from ATS, the District can identify, prioritize, and implement the improvements that have the greatest impact on student learning and energy savings. Not only is the District saving money and improving the learning environment, but they are also able to prove it with the analytical data that ATS provides. This both streamlines decision-making for maintenance and improves transparency with the school board and the Nampa community.

kWh Comparison of Like Schools With and Without a Controls Modernization