Alexandria Technical & Community College – Commercial Efficiency Program

Client Overview

Michaels Energy recently had the opportunity to work with Alexandria Technical & Community College (ATCC), one of Minnesota’s top-ranked two-year colleges, to conduct a campus-wide building study and find opportunities to save energy.

The campus includes diverse building types, such as classrooms, automotive and welding shops, fitness facilities, vehicle storage, and specialized training spaces. ATCC’s Facilities team, led by Randy Anderson and Joel Seela, brought valuable experience and knowledge to the project—they know their systems inside and out and contributed many great ideas to the study process. Their team needed support in quantifying, validating, and prioritizing the many opportunities they already suspected existed. Even savvy facility teams can benefit from the added horsepower of a utility-backed program to help turn ideas into action. Still, aging equipment, varied HVAC systems, and complex controls created challenges that made it harder to identify actionable savings. While past improvements had been made, the college needed a trusted team, including their natural gas provider CenterPoint Energy, and a clear roadmap to identify opportunities for deep energy savings.

Solution

Through CenterPoint Energy’s Commercial Efficiency program, Michaels Energy conducted a Phase 2 study in 2025, building on earlier work with this client. The study included:

• Onsite assessments and data logging
• In-depth review of BAS and mechanical systems
• Custom analysis of operational trends and energy use

The result: A targeted list of 15 Energy Conservation Opportunities (ECOs), with a focus on natural gas savings through low-cost recommissioning (RCx) measures and long-term capital projects.

Implemented Measures & Results

The college began implementation of some measures immediately and began actively working with Michaels Energy and CenterPoint Energy on implementation.

To date, ATCC has implemented measures capturing approximately 90% of the total identified savings opportunity and is positioned to generate more than $30,000 in annual savings from completed improvements.

Top Measures Include:

• Reducing VAV box airflow during unoccupied hours
• Optimizing AHU energy recovery wheel controls
• Bathroom exhaust fan controls via occupancy sensors
• Boiler staging adjustments to minimize cycling

Total Savings Impact:

• Over 23,000 Therms of natural gas savings annually from RCx measures
• Nearly 93,000 kWh in electric savings annually from RCx measures
• Annual energy cost savings of $25,747 from RCx measures
• Average RCx payback: 1.3 years

Capital measures with longer paybacks are under consideration as future budget cycles allow.

ATCC stands out as a model for long-term engagement within CenterPoint’s Commercial Efficiency program. With active support from Michaels Energy, they have transformed a complex campus with diverse building types into a leading example of how collaboration and persistence can drive operational savings.

Why It Worked

The success of this project is rooted in trust, collaboration, and commitment. ATCC brought responsiveness, and a genuine desire to improve campus operations. CenterPoint provided dedicated program support and funding, while Michaels Energy brought engineering expertise and practical recommendations.

This three-way partnership exemplifies how lasting customer engagement, mutual accountability, and a desire for continuous improvement can turn technical recommendations into meaningful, measurable outcomes.

Looking Ahead

With continued guidance and support, the college plans to:

• Implement remaining improvements in ECOs and expand internally on additional ideas from the report
• Engage staff in training for sustained operations
• Serve as a model for other institutions in the utility’s service territory