This bill establishes a series of requirements and guidelines for school districts and educational institutions that use federal or combined federal and state funding to improve or upgrade heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in schools. Here's a breakdown of the key provisions:
Key Provisions:
HVAC System Improvements:
Schools or educational providers (e.g., charter schools, local education providers) that use federal or combined federal and state funds for HVAC improvements must meet certain installation, inspection, and maintenance standards.
Ventilation and HVAC System Assessments:
The bill mandates that the HVAC systems be assessed for various factors, including:
Filtration and ventilation exhaust.
Economizers, demand control ventilation, air distribution, and building pressurization.
Maintenance, operational controls, and carbon dioxide output.
These assessments must result in the preparation of HVAC assessment reports.
Review and Recommendations:
Mechanical engineers must review the assessment reports, provide recommendations for repairs, suggest ways to reduce emissions, and estimate costs associated with these improvements.
HVAC Adjustments and Maintenance:
The bill includes provisions for:
Necessary adjustments, repairs, upgrades, and replacements of HVAC systems.
Preparation of HVAC verification reports that must be submitted to the State Board of Education.
Periodic inspections and ongoing maintenance of the HVAC systems.
Certified Contractors:
Contractors performing the HVAC work must meet mandatory criteria and must be on the certified contractor list established by the Department of Labor and Employment.
Use of Federal Funding:
The bill also facilitates the transfer of funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act cash fund to the unused state-owned real property fund.
The Public-Private Collaboration Unit in the Department of Personnel will assist schools by providing:
Grant writing support.
Administrative support and project planning.
Connecting schools with technical assistance for federal funding applications.
Partnerships and Funding:
The bill promotes public-public partnerships between local education providers and the state to maximize the use of available federal funds to:
Improve air quality in schools.
Enhance student performance.
Boost staff retention.
The Public-Private Collaboration Unit can retain up to 2.5% of awarded federal funds to cover its administrative costs.
This bill seeks to improve school HVAC systems by ensuring proper assessment, maintenance, and upgrades when federal or combined funding is used for these improvements. It emphasizes environmental standards, proper contractor certification, and collaboration between the state and local education providers. The Public-Private Collaboration Unit is tasked with helping schools navigate federal funding opportunities to improve air quality and overall school performance, with a small portion of the funding used to support the unit's efforts.
Summary
The bill requires a school district, a charter school, an institute
charter school, a board of cooperative services, or the Colorado school for the deaf and the blind (local education provider) to satisfy certain requirements concerning installation, inspection, and maintenance of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in schools if the local education provider undertakes HVAC infrastructure improvements using money made available by a federal government source or by a federal government source in combination with a state government source specifically for such purpose.
The requirements established in the bill concern: •
Ventilation verification assessments, which include assessments of an HVAC system's filtration, ventilation exhaust, economizers, demand control ventilation, air distribution and building pressurization, general maintenance requirements, operational controls, and carbon dioxide output;
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The preparation of HVAC assessment reports;
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The review of HVAC assessment reports by mechanical engineers, who make recommendations regarding necessary repairs and improvements, suggest pathways to reduce emissions, and estimate associated costs;
•
HVAC adjustments, repairs, upgrades, and replacements;
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The preparation of HVAC verification reports and the submission of the reports to the state board of education; and
•
Periodic inspections and ongoing maintenance.
The bill establishes mandatory criteria that an HVAC contractor
must satisfy in order to perform work described in the bill. A local education provider that undertakes HVAC infrastructure improvements using money made available by a federal government source or by a federal government source in combination with a state government source must do so using only contractors on the certified contractor list established by the department of labor and employment.
The bill transfers money from the Infrastructure Investment and
Jobs Act cash fund to the unused state-owned real property fund. The public-private collaboration unit in the department of personnel (unit) may use the money to provide grant writing support, administrative support, and project planning, to review the work of applicants, and to connect applicants with third parties with expertise pertaining to federal funding application technical assistance.
The bill requires the unit to facilitate a public-public partnership
with local education providers to leverage federal dollars available to help public schools improve air quality in schools, student performance, and staff retention.
For each award of federal dollars obtained with the unit's grant
writing support, the unit is authorized to retain 2.5% of the dollars awarded to cover the unit's administrative costs.
