SMART ENGINEERING. TRUSTED PROTECTION. RUGGED RELIABILITY.

Nicknamed the gateway to Southern California, the city Ontario, as well as neighboring city Montclair, is home to the third largest elementary school district in California - the Ontario-Montclair School District (OMSD). Founded in 1884, the district also incorporates portions of the city of Upland, and unincorporated areas of San Bernardino County, comprising 24,000 students in 26 elementary schools and six
middle schools.

OMSD’s overall mission is simple yet speaks volumes to its dedication to all students, to do whatever it takes to guarantee its commitment in providing the highest quality education for all students. To meet this mission head on OMSD contracted with TMAD Taylor Gaines a professional engineering consulting and services firm.

“Ontario Montclair School District was interested in reducing their overall energy costs by 20% - they along with other school districts throughout California were mandated to reduce their overall energy costs,” said John Simmons, RCDD, LEED AP, and Project Manager for TMAD Taylor Gaines. “We initially ran some numbers based upon information we found on Bard HVAC’s website, and through consultation with Geary Pacific Supply – Bard’s largest West Coast distributor.”

Based upon the scope of the projects in consideration, the money available to fund them and the overall cost of the units in consideration, as well as overall potential energy savings, TMAD Taylor Gaines recommended  that OMSD select Geary Pacific as the distributor of the new HVAC units.

GEARY PACIFIC & BARD’S CONTRIBUTION

“We considered other companies as part of our overall recommendation but in all honesty we were impressed by a couple of things. First, Bard Manufacturing had a wealth of product and technical information about their products on their website, including case studies of other customer successes. That in combination with Geary Pacific’s previous experience working successfully with the School District made our recommendation a simple one,” added Simmons. “Our District was already familiar with Bard because we had success using some of their other wall mounted units on several of our modular school buildings,” said Craig Misso, Director of Facility Planning & Operation at Ontario Montclair School District. Our goal was to not only upgrade our facilities and make them more energy efficient, but also work to reduce some of the HVAC noise inside the classroom, as well as save on the purchase, operation and maintenance of all of the units at our schools.”

TMAD Taylor Gaines and Geary Pacific’s approach was to do the retrofit in several phases. The pilot project encompassed one site - Sultana Elementary School, which included 24 relocatable buildings made up of both newer and some older construction.

“Sultana was a great school for the pilot because there were a lot of little issues to contend with and work through,” added Simmons. “The Bard WG*S Step Capacity Series units with Energy Recovery Ventilators and CO2 sensors worked great and we were initially very surprised at how quiet they actually operated.”

After that TMAD Taylor Gaines and Geary Pacific started doing groups of schools, encompassing 14 different building sites. Group one included 6 schools and approximately 83 units while Group 2 included 8 schools and 101 units.

It was during the second group of installations that TMAD Taylor Gaines realized that putting in units that required the installation of underground gas piping was not the best solution for all classrooms. That’s when Geary Pacific recommended utilizing Bard’s Quiet Climate 2 units with Energy Recovery Ventilators and CO2 sensors in about 1/3 of the overall installation.

“Bard’s Quiet Climate 2 units are some of the most energy efficient HVAC units on the market today,” said Maury Tiernan of Geary Pacific. “Plus the operational sound level is extremely low and is greatly appreciated by the students and teachers”.

“We were really pleased at how easily these units were able to be retrofitted into the relocatable classrooms,” said Simmons. There are almost no changes and very little sweat – smooth sailing in almost all cases.”

The dramatic reduction in operating noise levels was an added improvement and benefit
for which Craig Misso was particularly proud.

“At Sultana, we invited some of the teachers and our principal over to see the new classrooms. Our principal asked, ‘Why aren’t the new HVAC units running’? I had to laugh, because I knew they were on. They were just so quiet nobody could tell that they were working. That moment sold every teacher on the Bard units,” added Misso.

“From the very beginning Geary Pacific became our partner in the success of the project,” added Simmons. “Always available to answer questions on-site and knowledgeable about all aspects of the product and installation I can honestly say they can’t do anything wrong by me. Geary Pacific and the engineers at Bard Manufacturing came through in every way possible and more.”

WHY BARD?

Over thirty years ago, Bard Manufacturing began solving the comfort needs of schools across the country by providing wall-mounted heating and cooling equipment. Bard’s products offer a combination of quiet operation, and energy efficiency, with unsurpassed quality and dependability that make them the #1 choice for schools.

With three, state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and a global distribution network, Bard’s commitment to quality and product innovation begins with its commitment to research and development. With features like self-diagnostics and self-programming energy monitors, Bard delivers products that provide tangible solutions for any school.

ONTARIO MONTCLAIR’S RESULTS

“The Bard units reduced ambient classroom noise levels by over 75% and further gave us a 50% savings in energy,” added Misso. “This savings allowed us to also install software on our computers that automatically turns off the lights and the AC when the classrooms are unoccupied – a further increase in savings. Our hope is to have the funds necessary to install all 280 Bard units as specified by TMAD Taylor Gaines.”

“Geary Pacific has been extremely professional and service oriented throughout the project,” said Misso. “Because of our School Board’s commitment to energy conservation, our District will receive a dual reward – recognized energy savings and efficiency with an enhanced classroom environment for our students and teachers. We couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Bard’s Quiet Climate 2 Step Capacity Heat Pump and
WG*S Step Capacity Series Wall Mount™
Gas Electric Air Conditioners – The Quiet “Hidden” Technology

Bard’s Quiet-Climate 2 CH Series heat pump is the most innovative wall-mount ever made. Designed specifically to provide quiet operation in classrooms, the Quiet Climate 2 provides operating sound levels that are 20 to 35 times quieter than a standard wall-mounted heat pump. The Quiet Climate 2 uses 44% less energy than a standard efficiency HVAC unit plus it’s been designed to be environmentally friendly while offering fast installation and easy servicing capabilities.

The WG*S Series unit is designed to be mounted on the exterior wall surface of the classroom – fully engineered to be quiet, comfortable, aesthetically pleasing and secure. All of Bard’s WG*S Series units are designed to meet or exceed federal standards with easy installation features that make servicing fast and simple. The WG*S Series can also provide schools with individual room climate control and controlled dehumidification.

Bard’s Patented Ventilation Devices

Both The Bard CH and WG*S Step Capacity wall mounted units include patented energy recovery ventilators which rejects the undesirable btuh content of the outside air before it reaches the indoor coil. This reduces the cost to condition the classroom. CO2 sensors provide control of the energy recovery ventilation device to bring in outside air for the students only as needed, and to meet California’s mandated Title 24 ventilation requirements. These two devices bring an additional 25% reduction in energy consumption to the units’ operational cost.