Palmerton Area School District will receive a $250,000 state grant for a window and exterior door replacement project at its high school.

The project was one of 11 across the state selected by the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority for the COVID-19 Restart Grants, which cover energy efficiency, solar energy, high-performance building, and electric vehicle charging work halted by the pandemic.

Palmerton is hoping to replace just over 150 windows in a guaranteed energy savings project at the high school. Penn Builders Inc. was tapped for that job in February. The district had hoped to have the installation done in phases over the next two summers, but pumped the brakes on the project after COVID-19 hit. The project also includes exterior door replacements and insulated panels.

“We are extremely proud to be one of only two school districts in the entire state to be selected to receive this grant funding,” Dr. Jodi Frankelli, Palmerton Superintendent said. “As a district, we have worked hard to be fiscally responsible during the current pandemic. Because we needed to allocate funding to ensure that our students and teachers had the technology resources necessary to be successful during hybrid and remote instruction, larger construction projects were put on hold. The Pa. Energy Development Authority’s Restart Grant funding will provide financial assistance to help the district move forward with the completion of one of these projects.”

The window replacement would take the high school from single-pane windows to double-pane windows and match the junior high, which was completed several years ago.

“It will reduce the drafts and improve the thermal comfort in the classrooms,” Alyssa Wingenfield, account executive with the McClure Company, said in a meeting earlier this year.

The project aims to lower the school’s energy use more than 6%, or an estimated 541 MMBtu, annually, for a savings of more than $94,000 over 20 years. The energy conservation aims to achieve a 32-ton reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

“We look forward to proceeding with our high school construction project so that we can install energy efficient windows and doors throughout the school,” Frankelli said. “This project will not only help improve our infrastructure, but it will also provide an opportunity for the district to reduce its energy consumption. We believe that the reduction in energy costs for the district combined with the added benefits to our environment make this construction project a win-win for all involved.”

Five businesses, two municipalities, two school districts and two nonprofit organizations received grants for a variety of building and transportation projects that had broken ground or were in advanced planning stages before being disrupted by the pandemic.

Grants may support rehiring workers or hiring additional workers to complete the project quickly, making immediate equipment payments to restart the supply chain, and, most importantly, restarting a project that otherwise likely would not have been completed due to the disruption caused by the pandemic.

“We’re pleased to help this outstanding set of clean energy and energy efficiency projects get going again,” said Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell. “In addition to supporting current and new jobs to assist in Pennsylvania’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ll help improve air quality in their communities by lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce energy waste and demand on the grid.”