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.
More knowledge = more opportunities
While school and campus closures due to the pandemic are fading, the focus on healthier indoor learning and living environments has never been more important or better understood. And, there is even more opportunities to invest in improved Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and educational infrastructure to move towards smarter, more energy efficient, and resilient schools and campuses.
Siemens is a proud supporter of the “Efficient and Healthy Schools” campaign from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy—and we encourage you to join too! It’s a great opportunity to benefit from peer success sharing, technical support, and more. Make your commitment and join here.
Smart Infrastructure for Education
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.
Optimal ventilation, combined with other mitigation efforts, has been identified as a key component to keep learning environments as safe as possible. Manually implementing controls strategies to align with ASHRAE’s recommendations, however, may be time consuming and difficult – but it’s exactly the type of problem that artificial intelligence and machine learning were intended to solve. Dynamic VAV Optimization applies AI to intelligently harmonize temperature, humidity, and outdoor / fresh air based on building priorities. Better still, it’s an easily deployed solution that schools love. Learn more
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.