$2m might cover design fees for swapping out mechanical systems across 19 schools but probably not considering that this would be on the high end of the typical public project fee curve because of how messy HVAC renovations are for the sort of water distributed systems usually installed in large 40 year public buildings. It's not going to be craning in and out some package units from the rooftop.
Bringing Stocking Elementary out of moth balls, replacing boilers and roofs, and removing asbestos were just some of the projects GRPS put on the Warm, Safe and Dry list before the Commodore computer.
It seems they've already replaced boilers. They could have fixed any leaking radiators while they did that. ISTM they really are just talking about the control system. Perhaps it made sense to build a custom system in 1982, although I really doubt it. Nowadays, Honeywell certainly sells units that can just be dropped in, at each site. Unless they have steam tunnels running between the 19 buildings, centralization of control seems unnecessary. Sure, holidays, snow days, and terms move around slightly, but schools are on the internet now so staff at district HQ can manage each site's schedules when they need to do so. It would make sense to have centralized reporting, but just run that over the internet instead of the walkie-talkie bands.
Current best practice [and perhaps state regulations for public schools] require commissioning the controls. And RFQ's, RFP's, sealed bids, etc. The project requirements are discontinuous with a homeowner thermostat replacement in the same way that database cluster requirements are discontinuous with a Comcast residential gateway.
That seems orthogonal to centralization? Sure, an HVAC tech should regularly inspect each site, and should be on call for any issues. That doesn't require split-second coordination of mechanical operation among separate sites. We're talking about heating some schools, not operating a nuclear enrichment facility.
Neither is there anything about the "commissioning" process that mandates that control systems may only be replaced when mechanicals are also replaced. That would be ridiculous. Please note that I am not quibbling about the $2M cost. I merely observe that TFA discusses the control system only.
Commissioning etc. are orthogonal to the system configuration, and we should just agree to agree that a centralized control point is not necessarily necessary. OTOH IMPO, the control system requirements should be specified by a HVAC PE.
