Central Valley School District and the Spokane office of McKinstry Co. are in the final stages of making $2.6 million in energy-efficiency upgrades to 12 of the district's school buildings.

Altogether, the district expects the improvements to result in an annual utility savings of $107,000, says Jay Rowell, Central Valley's assistant superintendent for human resources. The district also expects a $19,000 annual reduction in operations costs, Rowell says.

The projects include lighting upgrades in a number of buildings, heating-control upgrades at six buildings, and new HVAC systems at Progress and Broadway elementary schools, he says.

In addition, Rowell says, two of the district's high schools, Central Valley High and University High, have undergone what's called a retro commissioning. Through that process, Rowell says, the district is testing the high schools' HVAC systems to determine whether they are operating optimally and adjusting them to operate more efficiently.

McKinstry and the district started work on the cluster of projects last fall.

Rowell says the district received about $1.5 million in grants and rebates for the projects. Consequently, he says, the district only spent about $1.1 million on the projects.