Utility subsidy persuades schools to buy efficient heat pumps. (subsidy to purchase high-efficiency heat pumps; Los Angeles Unified School District; Los Angeles Department of Water and Power) (Utility Services)

Utility Subsidy Persuades Schools to Buy Efficient Heat Pumps

LOS ANGELES -- Thanks to a utility program that subsidizes the purchase of high-efficiency heat pumps, the Los Angeles Unified School District selected equipment that is 12 percent more energy-efficient than it would have bought otherwise for the first phase in a $52 million heat pump installation designed to cool area schools for the first time.

Phase one of the 99-school project was completed late last year, and the final two phases are now underway.

The project, which is slated for completion this fall, will ultimately include the installation of over 3,500 heat pumps in buildings that, for the most part, previously lacked cooling equipment, according to Julie Crum, the district's deputy maintenance director. She explained that heat pumps were chosen as the most effective way to provide cooling and remain within state …