HOUSTON – As the first day of school quickly approaches, KPRC 2 is taking a closer look at the progress Houston ISD is making to repair air conditioning units across the district.
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KPRC 2’s Re’Chelle Turner got a firsthand look Wednesday morning at the ongoing HVAC repair efforts and learned 25 HISD schools are getting new HVAC equipment this school year.
Gianni Ledezma, Executive Director of HISD’s Office of Maintenance and Operations, spoke with KPRC 2 on a number of topics, among them included prioritizing which schools will get what:
“We’re using the schools with high prioritization, high utilization, high enrollment, so the schools that we utilize, they’ll do the biggest impact,” Ledezma said. “Our assurance to the kids is we’re definitely providing a safe, comfortable learning environment for our students and staff.”
Crews were at St. George Place Elementary replacing two chillers that had exceeded their life expectancy. The chillers were 24 years old.
Two weeks ago, the district installed a rental chiller to help cool the building while they waited for the new system. On Wednesday, we watched as crews used a massive crane to swap the old chiller with a new one.
“Chillers are the heart component of the system,” Ledezma explained. “They provide the chill water, the cold water necessary to go to the building, to be able to remove the heat load inside the building and bring it back out.”
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“They’re mechanical systems, so they do have an end life, they do have an end life,” Ledezma continued. “So, St. George, we’re constantly under repairs, under repairs of those chillers, so replacing the chillers will give them a better life, a better life, less work orders for the team to address.”
KPRC 2 has extensively covered air conditioning issues within HISD campuses. Back in May, Heights High School was forced to dismiss students early due to A/C problems.
“Heights High School will be getting two new chillers,” Ledezma said Wednesday. “We’re still waiting on purchase orders. So each chiller has to be specially made for the campus for the amount of tons. So they’ll be ordered, made, and then delivered when installed properly.”
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Other campuses that experienced HVAC failures include Pugh Elementary, Eliot Elementary, Wheatley High School, Henderson Elementary, and Westbury High in the past school year.
“We’re using our existing equipment,” Ledezma said. “Some schools are using existing equipment to cool the campus. Not all campuses have render chillers, but we’re using existing equipment to cool the campus.”
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Harvard Elementary and McGregor Elementary have already received new HVAC equipment.
“Teams are doing their best to make sure we’re providing that safe, comfortable learning environment for every campus that we oversee,” Ledezma reassured.
“It’s testing at times, so our operations start at 4:30 every morning,” he concluded. “We have a control team that comes in-house at 4:30 in the morning. They check many campuses that are on direct digital control to see if we have any chillers and alarms. By 5:30 a.m., that list is sent out to our divisions, who work in units in each division, who receive that list, and then we head out to that campus to do either chiller resets and stuff like that to address emergency work orders.”