Atholton Elementary School (Howard County Public Schools)
Columbia, Maryland
CHALLENGE
Howard County, Maryland is a suburban community of more than 323,000 situated midway along the Baltimore-Washington corridor. Howard County consistently ranks among Maryland’s top school districts based on student performance on state assessments. The Howard County Public School system consists of 42 elementary schools, 20 middle schools, 12 high schools, and 3 education centers with a total enrollment of more than 57,000 students.
When Atholton Elementary School, located in Columbia, MD, experienced a chiller failure on the second day of the school year, the Boland Rental Services team responded immediately to provide temporary cooling so the kids could continue to learn comfortably. Atholton Elementary School called Boland’s Rental Services team around 4:00 pm, just after school had ended, to alert them that their building was extremely hot. One of Boland’s experienced Service Technicians assessed the situation on-site and concluded that the current chiller was unfixable. Immediately, the team sprang into action to coordinate the delivery and installation of a 125-ton Air-Cooled Chiller before the start of school the next day.
SOLUTION
Boland Rental Services acted quickly and efficiently to provide the following emergency cooling equipment:
Temporary 125-ton Air-Cooled Chiller unit
375 kW Generator that ran 24/7 to power the chiller, which mimicked the existing tonnage needed
The Rental Services team swiftly contacted several vendors in our local depot to coordinate and source the equipment needed. They then delivered the equipment using a Ford F-550 Super Duty truck in our fleet only a few hours later. Once the equipment arrived on-site, it was installed and hooked up to the chilled water lines and power lines. The unit was started up around 11:30 pm that same night, giving the school a comfortable indoor environment before students and staff reported the following morning.
RESULTS
With Boland’s quick action throughout the night, Atholton Elementary School was able to open as scheduled the following day, allowing students and staff to learn in a temperature-controlled setting. The temporary chiller was removed in the fall as the school switched over to heating instead of air conditioning. As the weather heats up and the school needs air conditioning, The Boland Team will re-install a temporary chiller in the spring. Boland is proud to partner with Howard County Public Schools to ensure that students and staff are able to learn in a comfortable and safe environment.
Boland Rental Services are available 24/7 by calling (240) 306-3000 or emailing rentalservices@boland.com. To see our full fleet and capabilities, please visit https://www.boland.com/rentals.