District School Board Ontario North East (DSB1)
Introduction: A Need for Modernization and Safety
Managing repairs and upgrades to aging school facilities is a common challenge across Ontario, and the District School Board Ontario North East (DSB1) knows this well. The board regularly deals with reactive maintenance issues across its 28 schools, receiving up to approximately 500 monthly work orders. Until its recent partnership, 12 - 15% of its maintenance orders were electrical issues.
In the past, DSB1’s maintenance teams and outside contractors struggled to address problems with the board’s outdated electrical systems and equipment. These struggles led to higher costs, unnecessary downtime, and safety risks. Electricians could spend three to four hours just trying to identify the source of a problem because of missing, illegible or outdated info cards on breaker panels. In some older DSB1 schools, the systems were so obsolete that staff controlled the lighting through breaker switches, creating significant inefficiencies and potential hazards.
These issues underscored the need for DSB1 to become more proactive about its electrical issues. That’s when it partnered with CircuitIQ, a leading electrical power mapping solution.
Solution: A Strategic Partnership with CircuitIQ
DSB1 needed a comprehensive power map showing detailed information about each school’s electrical circuitry, including the flow of electricity, connections between circuits, and the locations of electrical components like outlets. This map would help electricians fix problems and make upgrades quickly and safely. But traditional power mapping can be time-consuming and costly and doesn’t allow users to store information updates as repairs and upgrades happen.
CircuitIQ worked with DSB1 on a district-wide initiative to modernize its electrical system. The initiative involved creating a digital power map to streamline operations and ensure safety using accessible, real-time data.
As Director of Education Lesleigh Dye explained, the transformative technology was key to achieving the board’s priority of ensuring safe schools for all DSB1 students, staff, and faculty.
"First and foremost, it's about safety. When I think about the staff coming into their buildings each day, our students, our families, knowing that we've done everything possible to ensure their safety is really beneficial and helpful."
Results: Faster Repairs, Lower Costs, and Greater Safety
The impact of DSB1 and CircuitIQ’s partnership has been immediate, transformative and measurable.
Staff and contractors can now work safely and quickly with every circuit and connection accounted for on the map. Instead of spending three to four hours manually identifying a faulty circuit, an electrician can open the CircuitIQ app and locate the issue in under a minute, eliminating time wasted on guesswork and troubleshooting. The solution increases efficiency and drives down the risk of accidental outages, overloaded circuits and safety violations.
"I used to spend hours tracking down a tripped circuit. Now, I can log into the app, see the tagged circuits, and fix the issue in minutes.” – Rock Whissell, DSB1 electrician.
CircuitIQ’s power map gives DSB1 real-time data on circuit loads and connections. This intelligence has allowed the board to optimize its power system to reduce unnecessary energy consumption, save energy, and reduce emergency service calls. The reports CircuitIQ sends DSB1 as part of the partnership also help the board make informed and strategic decisions about repairs and upgrades, preventing costly issues.
For example, DSB1 staff used the detailed information in the power map to alert one of their principals to the exact classrooms that would be affected by an upcoming repair job. The principal relocated lessons and sensitive equipment, including an aquarium. The intelligence DSB1 gained through its power map eliminated the risk of classroom disruption and potential harm to a beloved class pet.
The new power mapping system has also had a broader impact on school facilities planning. Jon Petrenas, a senior electrical engineer with J.L. Richards, has worked on multiple DSB1 projects. Petrenas shared that CircuitIQ’s data has streamlined project planning significantly, reducing the firm’s construction costs to DSB1.
As a result of this initiative, DSB1 now operates with a level of efficiency, safety, and preparedness that was previously impossible. Through its commitment to innovation and proactive infrastructure management, the board has set a new standard for electrical safety in schools—one that other districts across Ontario may soon look to follow.