MEMORANDUM
TO: Town of Sharon Board of Selectmen
FROM: Sharon Energy Advisory Committee
RE: Energy Efficiency Improvements to Town Municipal Buildings
DATE: October 31, 2008
As part of our efforts to assist the Town in reducing the Town’s energy consumption and costs, the Energy Advisory Committee has commissioned energy audits of Town municipal buildings. Audits of building gas consumption were performed by RISE Engineering, which is a contractor to Bay State Gas under its Partners in Energy Program. Audits of building electricity consumption for lighting were conducted by Northern Energy Services, which is a contractor to NStar under its Business Solutions Program. Some of the audits have been completed and the results presented to the Committee. Other audits are still in the process of being performed.
The following table summarizes the results of the audits, including the recommended measures, total cost, rebates under the identified programs, net cost to the Town, and annual savings. Details for each cost can be found in the individual audits reports.1 We have also included our working estimates of the cost of other upgrades we anticipate will be recommended in forthcoming audits. These estimates are marked in yellow (gray if printed).
Building | Upgrade Light Fixtures | Replace HVAC & Controls | Light Rebate | Boiler Rebate | Net Cost After Rebates | Annual Savings |
Police Dept | $7,918 | $24,000 | $1,605 | $4,000 | $26,313 | $5,377 |
Civil Defense | 0 2 | $29,670 | $0 | $13,585 | $16,085 | $5,190 |
Fire Station | $7,470 | $35,000 | $1,360 | $7,000 | $34,110 | $5,259 |
Town Hall | $13,898 | $40,000 | $4,060 | $7,000 | $42,838 | $2,789 |
Water Division | $5,000 | $30,000 | $1,000 | $5,000 | $29,000 |
|
Community Center | 03 | 03 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Library | 03 | $40,000 | $0 | $7,000 | $33,000 |
|
DPW | $15,121 | 03 | $3,595 | 0 | $11,526 | $2,375 |
Horizons For Youth | $10,000 | $40,000 | $2,500 | $7,000 | $40,500 |
|
Totals | $59,407 | $238,670 | $14,120 | $50,585 | $233,372 | $20,990 |
Total expected cost to the town for these upgrades (upgraded light fixtures and replaced HVAC and controls taken together) is $298,077 with a total rebate of $64,705 for a final cost of $233,372.
In the course of our investigation of the energy use of our buildings, we have discovered that the HVAC system in the new Community Center is using more energy than expected. The system is likely not properly balanced, and there may have been some inadequacies with installation. To remedy this situation, we recommend a complete commissioning study be conducted on the system. A commissioning agent would establish the design intent of the system and would conduct intensive testing of the equipment to make sure it was properly installed, is functioning as designed, is properly balanced and calibrated, that the controls are working properly and is being operated correctly. Based upon quotes received on other projects by members of our committee, we estimate that the cost of commissioning would be between $1 and $1.50 per square foot. At 28,000 square feet, we estimate the cost at between $28,000 and $42,000.
The Committee believes it is necessary for the Town to budget funds to begin to implement the efficiency measures listed in the chart above as part of its goal to reduce Town energy consumption by 10 percent. To this end, the Committee recommends that the Selectmen (a) set aside allowances for the identified capital outlays in the upcoming process for approval of Town capital expenditures; and (b) direct Town staff to proceed with the next steps in the implementation of the recommended measures.
Supplemental Fire Station Walk Through
A supplemental walk through of the Fire Station by George Aronson and Ed Connelly in September 2008 revealed several building envelope and control issues that should be addressed in order to achieve further energy savings. The roof is currently under-insulated; we estimate that R-10 insulation was added when the roof was replaced in the early 1990’s. The walls of the building have minimal insulation. The windows that were replaced in the early 1990’s are leaky; there are still other single pane windows in the heated garage bays. The old tower that was designed for hose drying appears to act as a chimney, sucking heat from the main garage bay. There are no controls to turn off the heating system when the garage doors are opened, and the system does not have a remote control to allow the doors to be closed from an exiting truck. There is a significant amount of electric baseboard heat in the interior office and crew areas.
Recommendations:
The boiler should be replaced and downsized per the RISE audit recommendations.
RISE engineering estimates that an additional 7% of heating costs could be saved by increasing the insulation in the roof from R-10 to R-24. ($888 per year at $1.69/therm). We recommend that this insulation be added when the roof is next replaced
The doors on the tower should be kept closed and weather stripped.
The windows should be caulked and air sealed; the single pane windows should be replaced.
The walls should be insulated when the building is rehabbed.
Controls should be added to the heating system to turn off heat when the doors are open and to allow more efficient automatic door closing.
A remote control for closing the garage doors from exiting vehicles should be added.
We have not developed cost estimates for these improvements.