City looks to make a watt of difference through energy efficiency

Apr 09 - Herald & Review (Decatur, IL)

Citizens who want to become more energy efficient have a variety of options, from replacing their windows to choosing a different kind of light bulb.

Cities that undertake the same mission have a much larger task ahead of them, but the rewards are great as well. At least, that is the hope of city of Decatur officials who have chosen a company to evaluate its infrastructure and look for improvements that would pay for themselves over time.

The company, Johnson Controls Inc., is scheduled to return to the Decatur City Council later this spring to present its findings. Through an energy performance contract with the city, the company would guarantee savings from the improvements.

"My hope is that the city will become more energy efficient, that we'll be able to make important investments in our infrastructure without increases in the budget," City Manager Ryan McCrady said. "That's really what energy performance contracting does. It allows you to make those capital investments with the savings you achieve through the upgrades."

The city's water meter system has been identified as a high priority for the project, with officials hoping to turn to an automatic meter reading system. The company also is looking for ways to improve energy efficiency in various city facilities, including the library, civic center, South Water Treatment Plant and fire stations.

There is also an opportunity for a wireless information system, said Rick Smith, area general manager for Johnson Controls.

"That would not only read the water meter ... on a consistent basis, but also would be available for other uses if you really think about it: economic development, other entities using the system, being able to exchange information between city buildings, between fire and police," Smith said.

The energy performance contract process is provided for in state law by most states, Smith said, including Illinois. Johnson Controls handles more than 200 energy performance projects each year.

"The biggest thing is our ability to guarantee the results of the project -- not only the performance of the project, but the savings of the project. That's probably the two biggest things we bring," Smith said.

Dan Hose, a project development engineer with the company, said it would examine all the possibilities to make systems and buildings more efficient, and would calculate how much money they might save and over how much time.

For example, "if we modify this (water) pump, we'll calculate what the savings will be to the city and then we guarantee that savings," he said. "That allows the city to make a good business decision as to whether to make the modifications to this pump or not."

apetty@herald-review.com|(217) 421-6986

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