FRANCIS HOWELL SCHOOL DISTRICT

The Francis Howell School District spans 150 square miles and includes 23 instructional sites, several support facilities, and more than 3 million square feet of building space. The district’s facilities team is responsible for maintaining all systems at peak performance to ensure a comfortable, safe, and effective learning environment for students. To support this mission, the district partnered with Automatic Controls (ACES), a St. Louis–based Automated Logic dealer with more than 35 years of experience. Automated Logic’s WebCTRL platform became the technology foundation supporting this collaboration, providing the modern building automation capabilities the district needed.

The path forward began with hands-on training and demonstrations that allowed district technicians to experience WebCTRL firsthand. This early engagement created strong buy-in from the end users, leading the district to adopt Automated Logic as its standard basis of design for building controls. ACES began modernizing facilities by upgrading legacy equipment and integrating new systems into a centralized WebCTRL platform, delivering a more modern, efficient approach to building automation and energy management.

Starting with a pilot project in May 2024 at an early childhood facility, the solution quickly scaled. From that initial deployment through today, WebCTRL has been installed in 11 schools, enabling the district to monitor humidity and CO₂ levels, improve indoor air quality, and gain better control over building performance. Advanced control strategies, including demand control ventilation sequences, were implemented to manage classroom CO₂ levels more precisely while improving efficiency.

WebCTRL also transformed day-to-day operations. The ability to troubleshoot systems remotely before arriving on-site significantly improved technician efficiency, while intuitive graphics and dashboards allowed the team to quickly identify trouble areas and focus their attention where it was needed most. By establishing clear schedules within WebCTRL, the district eliminated unnecessary 24/7 HVAC operation, resulting in significant utility cost savings. Ongoing training and continuing education further empowered the facilities team, enabling them to take on more system management tasks independently and continue growing their expertise. Together, ACES and Automated Logic delivered a reliable, scalable solution that improved service, increased efficiency, and positioned the district for long-term success.