Company: Up to $395,000 could be saved each year
| Andrew Mansfield Reporter GARDNER The city is looking to improve the energy efficiency of its buildings at no cost to taxpayers. Pending City Council approval, the city would reimburse contractor Honeywell International over 19 years for $6.7 million worth of improvements, and the deal stipulates that the energy savings resulting from the upgrades will at least match that cost. “We guarantee energy savings. If it’s missed, we write a check,” said Honeywell Operations Supervisor Eian Kurro. He and other representatives from Honeywell met with the Finance Committee on Wednesday. The council must pass a resolution authorizing the city to enter into a lease in order to finance the project. “The savings pay for the improvements,” said Doreen Hamilton, Honeywell energy executive. The building upgrades would happen over the course of a year and then the city would pay it back over 19 years through a tax-exempt lease. Should the council authorize the contract agreement, financing the lease would then go out to bid. City Hall, the Department of Public Works building, the Fire Department, municipal golf course, senior center, Greenwood Pool, and most notably all of the school buildings are targets for improvement. “A lot of the work that is going to be done is going to be done in the schools,” said Mayor Mark Hawke. Hamilton said most of the savings would come from the school buildings. The projects will vary by building but will have to do with finding ways to conserve the use of heat, electricity and water. For example, there will boiler replacements, HVAC system upgrades, installation of LED lighting, and replacement of kitchen equipment in buildings. The city is pursuing with Honeywell an energy management services contract under state guidelines. The process began last year and after the city met state qualification, Honeywell was subsequently chosen at the beginning of the year by city officials as the contractor. “A lot of communities are doing this. It’s a way to fund this without having to affect the tax rate,” said Assistant City Engineer Chris Coughlin. By reducing energy use, Hamilton said, the upgrades would yield an annual savings of $395,000. “How reliable are these estimates?” asked Council President James Walsh. “They’re quite reliable,” responded Hamilton. She explained that since Honeywell was chosen for the project, the company has been analyzing and documenting the energy use of city buildings. Their findings and estimates were then reviewed by an outside company; Hamilton described the process as a “very rigorous, internal peer review.” One notable improvement by Honeywell will be creating a building management system, which involves having the energy use of buildings monitored on a computer network. For example, if the temperature of a building is too high at night when nobody is in it, thus wasting energy, the management system will show that so an adjustment can be made. Hawke said the building management system feature was “one of the big things” he liked about the overall project. “Now we’re going to be able to track virtually everything,” he said. While Walsh said he thinks the idea of contracting with Honeywell makes sense, he expressed concern that the council as a whole would not be comfortable voting, having not heard the presentation. “We (the Finance Committee) are looking at this for the very first time,” he said. “I just want people to have an adequate opportunity to understand it.” Given that sentiment, the Finance Committee arranged for Honeywell to make an additional presentation before the entire City Council on Monday, June 20, just prior to the start of the regular meeting. |
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