Before reopening, schools are scrambling to fix their air-handling systems
VTDigger, August 24, 2020 – Before reopening, schools are scrambling to fix their air-handling systems. The project prices run the gamut, depending on the severity of the problem and the size of the school. But Eveline Habermann Killian of the Burlington engineering firm Cx Associates, which is working with about 20 schools, said she’s frequently seeing costs ranging from $40,000 to $60,000 per school.
Killian, associate principal of the engineering firm, said she was “pleasantly surprised” to find that many of the box ventilation systems commonly found in union high schools built in the 1950s and 1960s can meet today’s standards. The problem? Many aren’t functioning the way they should be.
“Because the funding has been scarce, we’re finding that there’s a lot of maintenance that’s required for these systems,” she said.
