Your grounds crew, Tony, Dave, Robbie, Juan and Antonio have their tools cleaned up and are ready to put them to work at your school. If they are not out getting your fields ready for baseball or running, chances are they're in a corner pulling weeds or planting fresh plants for spring.

Our maintenance crew which consists of Jim, Chris, Dave, Larry, Richard, Harry and Yolanda strive very hard on a daily basis to keep our schools looking their best. Pictured above: Yolanda repaints areas of the playground; Chris and Dave make repairs to a gate and Harry refreshes the wall with a new coat of paint.

The Saugus Union School District’s HVAC Team is currently working on resetting thermostats district wide, to follow the suggested guidelines of both the EPA and ASHRAE. Below is a brief summary of what has been recommended.

Thermal Comfort

A number of variables interact to determine whether people are comfortable with the temperature and relative humidity of the indoor air. Factors such as clothing, activity level, age, and physiology of people in schools vary widely, so the thermal comfort requirements vary for each individual. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 55-1992 (summarized in the table below) describes the temperature and humidity ranges that are comfortable for 80 percent of people engaged in largely sedentary activities. The ASHRAE standard assumes "normal indoor clothing." Added layers of clothing reduce the rate of heat loss.

 

Although our area falls under the 40% humidity criteria, the district has chosen to set the temperatures on all thermostats at 72.0^oF - 76.0^oF. By keeping the temperatures at these settings, we are hoping to provide comfort to all, as well as help conserve energy.

Slideshow of projects at Mountainview and Helmers and Bridgeport