Cornell College partners with Johnson Controls to improve campus energy efficiency

Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa has partnered with Johnson Controls on a $5.9 million infrastructure improvement plan to rectify the campus’ aging infrastructure and significantly reduce operations and maintenance costs.

As part of the plan, the college’s original two buildings, College Hall (1857) and Old Sea (1853), have recently received over 150 new energy-efficient windows; high-efficiency boilers were installed to remove the final eight buildings from the campus steam plant; and nearly every campus building was upgraded with LED lighting.

The agreement with Johnson Controls guarantees that infrastructure upgrades will produce savings that repay the company for project costs over time, which does not require any traditional loans. Instead, Cornell pays Johnson Controls based on measured and verified results through a funding structure known as contingent payment funding. As a result, the infrastructure improvements do not impact any of the college’s existing debt covenants or obligations.

The campus is expected to reduce its energy usage by 20% thanks to the renovations.