Energy or Infrastructure Savings as a Service (ESaaS) and an Energy Performance Contract (EPC) are practically the same, correct?
NO
With an ESaaS, what we’re proposing is not a traditional Energy Performance Contract (EPC). EPCs are designed for buildings that are already in good shape structurally and mechanically. They focus narrowly on reducing energy use, usually by upgrading a few systems, adding solar PV, and guaranteeing a % energy savings.
For a majority of public schools, this does not equate to a good solution!
What good is having a Net-Zero school when your boilers, HVAC, roof, etc is 20+ years old and need major work?
Many school facilities today don’t just need lower energy bills—they need modernization. Aging HVAC systems, indoor air quality concerns, rising maintenance costs, comfort issues, reliability problems, and deferred capital upgrades all add up. Addressing these problems one by one is expensive, slow, and disruptive.
That’s where Energy or Infrastructure Savings as a Service (ESaaS) comes in.
Instead of looking at one system at a time, ESaaS takes a big-picture view of your buildings. We look at how everything works together—heating and cooling, air quality, lighting, controls, reliability, and overall building health (including possibly adding solar PV). The goal is not just to save energy, but to reduce total operating costs, improve reliability, and create better environments for the students who walk into each classroom every day.
The other key difference is how this is funded.
Rather than requiring your school to put up large amounts of capital, private investors fund the upgrades. That means you can modernize your school facilities without taking on traditional debt or diverting funds from other priorities. The upgrades are repaid over time through a service-style structure, similar to a utility expense. Essentially, a capital expenditure is turned into a monthly operating expense.
If your state provides state funding for capital expenditures, it will allow your school district to either save even more on monthly operating expenses or widen the scope of the project to add more “wants” to the “needs”. For example, changing the landscape of a classroom has shown improvement in attention and test scores, and or using the reduced expenses to help pay for Pre-K services.
Bottom line- our objective is simple: we want the capital improvements to pay for themselves. Even with the addition monthly service cost, the goal is that your overall operating costs stay the same—or ideally, go down—while your buildings become more efficient, more reliable, and healthier.
It all starts with an initial assessment.
Before anyone can responsibly recommend solutions, pricing, or timelines, we need a clear, data-backed understanding of your facilities. This first phase allows us to identify real problems, real opportunities, and real savings—so leadership can make informed decisions based on facts, not assumptions.
Here’s how the process works:
Phase 1: If you have a Facility Condition Assessment, let us review it to see if your school district/buildings are a good candidate for ESaaS
o We may request more information if we feel the school is a possible candidate
Phase 2: If we confirm your school is a candidate. We would perform an on-site comprehensive investment-grade facility assessment (Cost could vary, typically .16-.20/sq ft). (Note: Sometimes we may have an engineering firm agree to wait for payment until the project gets funded, and we would pay the engineer out of the funding we are going to provide the school, not your school directly.)
Phase 3: Presentation of recommended solutions, costs, and projected impact
Phase 4: Project implementation (only if approved). No upfront capital required.
To learn more about ESaaS, visit www.smartairdefense.com and schedule a meeting so we can formally present ESaaS. You’ll have a better, more informed understanding of what ESaaS can do for your school district today and in the future.
