Transforming education infrastructure. A progress report.
A message from Ruth Gratzke, President of Siemens Smart Infrastructure U.S.
With a new school year fast approaching, Ruth Gratzke, President of Siemens Smart Infrastructure U.S. provides an update on opportunities for leveraging federal funding to improve the nation’s education infrastructure. Highlighted are new funding vehicles made available in the recent Bipartisan Infrastrcuture Law (BIL).
For additional information on funding opportunities:
In April 2022, the White House placed clear prioritization and use of a range of federal funds to address school infrastructure needs and provided a toolkit to assist schools in these efforts. Learn more: Fact Sheet on The Biden-Harris Action Plan for Building Better School Infrastructure
In addition to encouraging strategic use of remaining ESSER funds, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) offers new funding opportunities, including:
- The Clean School Bus Program provides $5 billion of funding to update school transportation from diesel to alternative fuel and zero-emission school buses and applies towards buses and supporting electrical infrastructure.
- Grants for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Improvements at Public School Facilities provides $500 million grants to make energy efficiency, renewable energy, and alternative fueled vehicle upgrades.
By taking the right steps today, we can transform our educational infrastructure so that it’s smarter, safer, more sustainable, and more resilient – all of which can also translate into enhanced efficiency, comfort, improved health and safety, and even lower cost of operations.
The Clean School Bus program administered through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to replace existing school buses with zero-emission school buses and clean school buses helps:
- Reduce tailpipe pollution in your community
- Enable quiet, clean operation
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- Lessen maintenance and fuel costs
As a leader in eMobility, Siemens can help you vision your eFuture.
Smart Infrastructure for Education
Improve your school's indoor air quality by using your existing HVAC system. Try our new SmartAir ionization technology.
We spend 90% of our time indoors but according to the EPA indoor air is often two to five times more polluted than outdoor air. With Siemens SmartAir you can improve indoor air quality using your existing HVAC system. Our patented needlepoint bipolar ionization technology introduces ions into the airstream that combine with certain viruses and bacteria making them easier to capture in the filtration system.
How smart is that? How AI can help beat COVID transmission and improve energy efficiency
To date, navigating decisions on building operations has proven to be dynamic and challenging to meet the latest CDC recommendations and ASHRAE guidelines for Ventilation. However, we’ve learned with challenges is opportunity to take a leap forward using technology, along with lessons learned. Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology can not only help us now, but also help us move to a smarter operating model that offers safety, energy efficiency, and greater sustainability.
Cooperative Purchasing Contracts with Sourcewell
Even with allocated federal funding now available for education, using a Sourcewell Purchasing Contract can accelerate this process. This vehicle allows schools, colleges and universities to purchase solutions, equipment and services through a pre-negotiated contract vehicle, saving time and eliminating the RFP process. This applies to planned or actionable projects due to the pandemic that can improve the health and safety of your institutions.