BRUNSWICK — Region 10 Technical High School will spend $3.5 million over the next 15 years to improve air quality and energy conservation at the school, even as its board makes plans to move out of the nearly 40-year-old building.

According to Superintendent Nancy Weed, the building still has the original heating, ventilation and air conditioning system and furnace. The systems are not efficient and losing heat through the vents. They have outlived their useful life, Weed said.

The board overseeing the school agreed to the 15-year borrowing plan despite plans to move to Brunswick Landing — site of a former Navy base — and become an independent, four-year technical high school within a couple of years.

Weed said that never factored into the decision to move ahead with the air quality and energy efficiency project. Whether in the existing building for one year or five, it is critical to address these building needs,  she said.

The school has applied to the state for funding to build the new school, according to Jim Grant, the vice chairman of the cooperative board and chairman of the Brunswick school board. The board doesn’t yet know if that application will be approved, so it can’t count on being able to build a new school.  The board continues to plan for the future but also has to make decisions based on today, he said.

“We’re going to have to sell the building that is there or repurpose it so those systems need work,” Grant said. “The work needs to be done, by us or the next tenant which will lower the value of the property.”

“In the meantime, that’s the building that we’re in and we need to make sure it’s safe for the people who are there,” he said. “We can’t wait on things like air quality and mechanical systems.”

New LED lighting will be installed, too. Weed said she expects Region Ten to see about $12,000 a year in energy savings.

The school already made its first $310,000 payment, a year before it was due which will save $186,000 according to Weed. The work starts in January but the bulk of it will take place over the summer.

The cost of the project won’t raise taxes, Weed said.

The school will also purchase two new boilers so there is a backup boiler.

“We’ve done our homework, we’ve had our studies done,” Weed said. “They’ve all said the same thing… It’s an aging building.”

The air is extremely dry in the building which can irritate sinuses and dry out skin and eyes, Weed said. The air quality ranges throughout the building but is probably worst in areas with more particulates, such as in the auto collision and auto repair areas.

There aren’t any known student health problems as a result of the air quality, she said.

“It’s going to be more efficient,” she said. “Air quality is going to be what it should be.”

The school services students from Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham, Brunswick High School, Freeport High School and Harpswell Coastal Academy.

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