This past October, Southland Energy, a comprehensive energy services firm and division of Southland Industries, was awarded a series of upgrades and replacements for Randolph-Macon Academy, a leading co-educational day and boarding school for students in grades six through twelve in Front Royal, Virginia. The Academy facilities span 300,000 square feet on a 135-acre campus.
As a project awarded under VirginiaSAVES, a new program designed to reduce the cost of qualified energy efficiency projects and provide low- or no-cost long term financing, the project is completely self-funding and aims to reduce the school’s carbon footprint by 35 percent. 
The project includes the redesign and replacement of inefficient systems and equipment across the campus’ classrooms, dorms, offices, worship spaces, meeting rooms, and athletic facilities. Southland’s scope of work features lighting, controls, boilers, chillers, pumps, motors, and HVAC equipment. The upgrades will greatly benefit the students and faculty due to the improvement of the lighting, temperature and humidity control, and indoor air quality.
Southland Energy will provide energy auditing, development, financing, as well as mechanical, electrical, and plumbing design services prior to the project’s construction phase. Completing these services beforehand allows Southland to develop a bundled energy and facility renewal program that will replace over $1.5 million in end-of-life equipment.
By teaming with R-MA’s finance, facilities, and operations staff Southland Energy can offer a financial and technical solution to address the school’s needs, as well as find savings and subsidies to fully fund the project.
The project’s saving goals are as follows:
• Campus carbon reduction: 35%
• Electricity savings: 1,086,149 kWh/year
• Gas savings: 56,000 therms/year
• Water/sewer savings: 589,000 gallons/year
• VirginiaSAVES subsidiary value: $1,000,000
• Cost savings over project life: $5,500,000
The design phase began in October 2016, and overall project completion is anticipated for October 2017.