By Chris Post / Editor-In-Chief

Marshall Public Schools saved more on utility costs during the first year of its energy-efficiency program than project officials originally expected.

Garrett Wooldridge, a representative of Navitas, told the Marshall Board of Education the district was projected to save about $129,000 in utilities during the program’s first year. Actual savings came in at approximately $157,000.

“That’s $27,000 extra savings that the district now has that would have gone to the utility company,” Wooldridge said.

The district entered into an energy-conservation agreement with Navitas in 2023. The project included lighting upgrades, weatherization, building automation, updated HVAC systems and work intended to make existing mechanical systems operate more efficiently.

The first-year measurement period ran from April 1, 2025, through March 2026.

Wooldridge said the savings calculations include electric use, electric demand and natural gas use. They also include predetermined operation and maintenance savings tied to replacing equipment earlier rather than waiting for it to fail.

The program does more than replace equipment. Navitas also monitors how district buildings use energy and looks for systems that may be operating when they do not need to be. That distinction has produced some of the more dramatic results.

Wooldridge pointed to energy use intensity, a measurement that combines gas and electric consumption and adjusts it for a building’s size. Spainhower Primary School had an energy-use-intensity rating of 86 before the improvements, he said. That number dropped to 48 during the first year of the program.

Marshall Intermediate School has also shown substantial reductions, although the new building is not included in the $157,000 savings total because there was no older baseline for comparison.

Wooldridge said Navitas discovered that some HVAC equipment at the intermediate school had been operating without an occupancy schedule, meaning fans and other systems were running even when the building was empty.

Once those systems were properly scheduled, electrical use dropped sharply.

In July 2026, the intermediate school used about 65% less electricity than it did during July 2025, according to Wooldridge. The problem was not faulty equipment.

“It wasn’t an equipment issue,” Wooldridge said. “It was just an operation issue.”

That kind of monitoring is part of the district’s ongoing relationship with Navitas. Wooldridge said the company uses real-time data from electric meters and building systems to track when energy demand rises and falls. Ideally, demand should fall when students and staff are no longer in a building.

“That gap there is where the savings is captured,” he said.

The district has also moved into a second phase of energy work. That phase includes the replacement of rooftop units at Marshall High School serving areas including gyms and locker rooms, along with continued monitoring and commissioning work at the intermediate school.