City sustainability project helps businesses cut costs
Thanks to a federally funded project called City Green: The District, downtown Columbia businesses are receiving financial assistance from the city to reduce their energy use.
The Environmental Protection Agency has given the city’s Water and Light Department a $285,547 grant for this project through the Climate Showcase Communities program. An initial proposal for City Green: The District was submitted last August for the maximum $500,000 and was rewritten for a lower grant amount in January.
Water and Light began City Green: The District in April and is currently measuring the amount of energy different downtown businesses and buildings have used for the past two to three years by analyzing utility bills and meter readings.
“We’ll come up with the energy use intensity for the different businesses, and from there, those that are really high on energy use, we’ll go back and offer to pay for 50 percent of an energy audit,” said Frank Cunningham, the city’s energy services supervisor. An energy audit is the technical evaluation of the energy use and a list of things that can be done for the business to be more energy-efficient.
Water and Light will compare businesses and industries by putting them in categories: banks, churches,
multi-family houses (apartments), office spaces, restaurants and bars, retail and miscellaneous. A restaurant, for example, will be compared to other restaurants that have similar operating hours.
Cunningham said Water and Light’s goal is to have at least 100 participants in City Green. As of late June, Water and Light had surpassed its goal with 106 businesses participating.
Water and Light organizes its findings and makes comparisons with the Energy Star Portfolio Manager. The data is originally in kBtu measurements, or kilo British thermal units. To see how much energy a business uses, they take the electric energy in kilowatt-hours and convert it to Btus. Water and Light also takes the amount of energy from gas, measured in therms, and converts it to Btus. With these numbers added together, the result is one measurement type instead of two separate ones.
Energy Star rates each business on a scale of 1 to 100 in accordance with the amount of energy in Btus consumed on the business site. This rating shows where a business or building is as far as how much energy is consumed for Energy Star standards. A business that has a low number will need to make improvements to reduce its energy usage.
Once the measuring and comparing are completed later this summer, Water and Light will notify the participants of their energy use intensity.
Water and Light will help businesses rating low on the scale become more energy-efficient by paying for half of the repair costs up to a maximum of $12,500. For example, if a building needs to make $15,000 worth of repairs, Water and Light will provide $7,500.
“In the end, we hope that this project helps our businesses here in Columbia understand how they’re using energy,” Cunningham said, “and possibly identifying ways to reduce their energy costs and help their bottom line.”
If a downtown business wants to enroll in this program, contact the Water and Light Department, or Frank Cunningham can be reached directly at (573) 817-5017.
Timeline for City Green: The District
City Green: The District began in April with energy benchmarking and is scheduled to be completed in February 2013. Here is the project’s schedule:
Energy benchmarking (currently under way)
• Using the federal EPA’s Portfolio Manager Software and energy measurements, the Water and Light Department will compare similar businesses and identify potential projects downtown with no cost to the building owner.
Energy audits: First stage (August to October)
• Walk-through energy audits or ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers) Level 1 energy audits will be conducted with costs being split between the business or building owner and Water and Light at $75 to $100 an hour.
Energy audits: Second stage (September to December)
• ASHRAE Level 2 energy audits will be conducted, and Water and Light will calculate the payback on the suggested maintenance projects. The varying costs will be split between the business or building owner and Water and Light.
Energy retrofits/implementations
(August 2011 to February 2013)
• Water and Light will determine which projects to undertake.
• Eligible businesses and buildings will have a payback of 10 years or less, and up to 50 percent of the costs for the maintenance work will be offered with the grant money.
The Environmental Protection Agency has given the city’s Water and Light Department a $285,547 grant for this project through the Climate Showcase Communities program. An initial proposal for City Green: The District was submitted last August for the maximum $500,000 and was rewritten for a lower grant amount in January.
Water and Light began City Green: The District in April and is currently measuring the amount of energy different downtown businesses and buildings have used for the past two to three years by analyzing utility bills and meter readings.
“We’ll come up with the energy use intensity for the different businesses, and from there, those that are really high on energy use, we’ll go back and offer to pay for 50 percent of an energy audit,” said Frank Cunningham, the city’s energy services supervisor. An energy audit is the technical evaluation of the energy use and a list of things that can be done for the business to be more energy-efficient.
Water and Light will compare businesses and industries by putting them in categories: banks, churches,
multi-family houses (apartments), office spaces, restaurants and bars, retail and miscellaneous. A restaurant, for example, will be compared to other restaurants that have similar operating hours.
Cunningham said Water and Light’s goal is to have at least 100 participants in City Green. As of late June, Water and Light had surpassed its goal with 106 businesses participating.
Water and Light organizes its findings and makes comparisons with the Energy Star Portfolio Manager. The data is originally in kBtu measurements, or kilo British thermal units. To see how much energy a business uses, they take the electric energy in kilowatt-hours and convert it to Btus. Water and Light also takes the amount of energy from gas, measured in therms, and converts it to Btus. With these numbers added together, the result is one measurement type instead of two separate ones.
Energy Star rates each business on a scale of 1 to 100 in accordance with the amount of energy in Btus consumed on the business site. This rating shows where a business or building is as far as how much energy is consumed for Energy Star standards. A business that has a low number will need to make improvements to reduce its energy usage.
Once the measuring and comparing are completed later this summer, Water and Light will notify the participants of their energy use intensity.
Water and Light will help businesses rating low on the scale become more energy-efficient by paying for half of the repair costs up to a maximum of $12,500. For example, if a building needs to make $15,000 worth of repairs, Water and Light will provide $7,500.
“In the end, we hope that this project helps our businesses here in Columbia understand how they’re using energy,” Cunningham said, “and possibly identifying ways to reduce their energy costs and help their bottom line.”
If a downtown business wants to enroll in this program, contact the Water and Light Department, or Frank Cunningham can be reached directly at (573) 817-5017.
Timeline for City Green: The District
City Green: The District began in April with energy benchmarking and is scheduled to be completed in February 2013. Here is the project’s schedule:
Energy benchmarking (currently under way)
• Using the federal EPA’s Portfolio Manager Software and energy measurements, the Water and Light Department will compare similar businesses and identify potential projects downtown with no cost to the building owner.
Energy audits: First stage (August to October)
• Walk-through energy audits or ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers) Level 1 energy audits will be conducted with costs being split between the business or building owner and Water and Light at $75 to $100 an hour.
Energy audits: Second stage (September to December)
• ASHRAE Level 2 energy audits will be conducted, and Water and Light will calculate the payback on the suggested maintenance projects. The varying costs will be split between the business or building owner and Water and Light.
Energy retrofits/implementations
(August 2011 to February 2013)
• Water and Light will determine which projects to undertake.
• Eligible businesses and buildings will have a payback of 10 years or less, and up to 50 percent of the costs for the maintenance work will be offered with the grant money.