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October 19, 2026Side-by-side monitoring against a 13-year-old legacy unit shows $413 in monthly operating cost savings per classroom unit, with projected district-wide savings of nearly $5 million a year
WOODRUFF, S.C. — Oct. 28, 2026 — Airsys, a global leader in mission-critical cooling for data centers, AI and high-performing digital infrastructure, today released results from a side-by-side field evaluation showing its School Air Solutions™ exterior wall-mounted heat pump reduced classroom cooling-related operating costs by 85% compared with a 13-year-old legacy unit at a Georgia middle school.
The school, home to 730 students and 84 teachers and staff, ran the evaluation as part of a broader investment in classroom safety and facility renovation. Operating and maintenance costs were climbing on its aging heat pumps, and facilities staff wanted a provider that could offer local support, advise on implementation and serve as a long-term partner.
To give district leadership hard data to bring to the school board, Airsys set up classroom-level smart metering with real-time cloud reporting on two comparable 5–6-ton exterior wall-mounted units: the newly installed Airsys heat pump and the school’s existing non-Airsys unit. Both served classrooms with similar class sizes, student loads and setpoints. The system logged each unit’s performance and energy consumption in kilowatt-hours, and Airsys applied the utility’s peak and off-peak billing rates to calculate operating costs.
“School districts are being asked to do more with tight budgets, and facilities teams need proof before they can make a case to their boards,” said Russell Letbetter, K-12 vertical market manager for the Eastern U.S. at Airsys. “Measuring our unit side by side with the school’s existing equipment gave the district real operating cost data, not a spec-sheet estimate.”
Measured operating cost savings came to $413 per unit per month, or $4,956 per year. Extrapolated across a school with 50 units, that equals $247,800 a year; across a district with 1,000 units, it approaches $5 million a year. Based on those savings, Airsys estimates owners will recover the unit’s higher upfront cost within the first year of operation.
The Airsys unit also delivered measurable gains in classroom conditions:
- Quieter classrooms: In-classroom sound levels of 36–44 dBA, approaching the standard classroom acoustic target.
- Humidity control: Up to 25 pints of moisture removal per hour, six to 10 times the capacity of typical classroom systems.
- Ventilation control: Two onboard CO₂ sensors and fresh-air dampers that respond to signals from third-party building control systems, giving facilities staff tighter control of classroom CO₂ levels.
The operating cost difference comes from Airsys’ variable-speed inverter technology. Return and supply temperature and humidity sensors let the unit ramp compressor and blower speeds up or down to match each room’s real-time cooling demand. Most legacy units run at a fixed speed, delivering the same cooling output regardless of need and drawing more energy than the room requires.
Local support was also a deciding factor. Airsys technician support staff are based in the U.S. and available 24 hours a day, year-round. The company’s Woodruff, S.C., campus includes a 245,000-square-foot production facility, and a nationwide parts network means customers can typically receive a replacement fan motor within a day rather than waiting several weeks.
“Districts across the Western U.S. face the same pressure on energy budgets and classroom comfort,” said Bill Mezin, K-12 vertical market manager for the Western U.S. at Airsys. “Measured results like these give facilities leaders a clear basis for planning heat pump replacements across their schools.”
To learn more visit Airsys School Air Solutions online.
About Airsys
Airsys is a global leader in mission-critical cooling for high-performing digital infrastructure including data centers, AI, edge computing, telecom, medical imaging, and advanced manufacturing environments. Airsys combines more than 30 years of technical excellence designing and delivering cooling solutions across all major thermal architectures – air, liquid and hybrid – with a purpose-driven focus on energy efficiency and sustainability.
With its unique focus on higher Power Compute Effectiveness (PCE), Airsys helps customers allocate more of their provisioned power to compute. The company is headquartered in South Carolina, USA, and supports its global mission with 1,000+ employees across 16 global locations. For more information, visit airsyscooling.com.
Media contact:
Airsys Media Relations | Marketbridge (North America)
[email protected]
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