City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

 

TO:              David L. Corliss, City Manager

CC:               Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager

                    Chuck Soules, Public Works Director 

Mark Thiel, Assistant Public Works Director

                   Steve Bennett, Building/Maintenance Engineer

FROM:           Cynthia Boecker, Assistant City Manager

DATE:           May 21, 2009

RE:               Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program

 

As previously discussed with the City Commission , the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program (EECBG) is funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), and is designed primarily to assist local and regional governments in promoting more efficient use of energy and conservation measures.  The program specifically seeks to: reduce fossil fuel emissions; reduce total energy use; improve energy efficiency in transportation, buildings, or other appropriate sectors; and create and retain jobs.  The EECBG allows local authorities to determine the activities and strategies that will be most effective in achieving these programmatic goals.

 

A total of $3.2 billion of funding has been made available through the EECBG program.  Of this, $2.7 billion has been allocated to various agencies, including state and local governments.  The City of Lawrence will receive $858,600 of funding through the EECBG.  Although this is a formulaic allocation, the Department of Energy requires application for the grant.  The application deadline is June 25, 2009.  Funding will likely be distributed later in the summer, and must be spent within 18 months of receipt.

 

In April, City Staff provided background on this program and a list of more than $2 million worth of projects that would be eligible for funding through the EECBG.  Following City Commission direction at that time, staff has reviewed the projects and prioritized them based on several criteria, including: the ability to measure energy savings from the project; the likelihood that the project will receive funding from another source; the public visibility of the energy savings that would result from the project; and the need for the replacement of a particular project or facility.  Based on these criteria, staff has developed the following recommendations for application:

 

·        Hire a City/County Sustainability Coordinator to further identify energy saving opportunities;

·        Replace the HVAC system at the Lawrence Public Library and install a new control system for heating and cooling; and

·        Use the balance of funds to convert as many 10-foot decorative lights in downtown Lawrence as possible.

 

A brief description of each recommendation follows.

 

Hire a City/County Sustainability Coordinator

Staff recommends that a new position jointly funded by the City of Lawrence and Douglas County be created.   A Sustainability Coordinator would be hired by Douglas County to analyze existing facilities and recommend ways to reduce energy use and review sustainability issues.  Such a position is envisioned to spend approximately 40% of their time on county-identified energy issues; 40% on analysis of city facilities, vehicles, programs and operations for energy conservation and 20% on other sustainability initiatives (farmland preservation and locally grown food, etc.)  City energy analysis and review could include energy audits of pubic facilities to determine best practices and identify areas for energy conservation.  

 

This position would assist in implementation of energy reduction strategies and track and report success in energy reduction.  Salary and benefit costs are estimated at approximately $100,000 annually.  The City would fund 100% of the position salary and benefits for the first year utilizing the EECBG grant proceeds, while the County would fully fund the second year of the position.  Following the second year, the position would be reviewed to determine the level of success in identifying and reducing energy use and future funding of the position would be determined.   

 

Replace the HVAC system at the Lawrence Public Library

The Lawrence Public Library has made significant strides over the last three years in reducing its energy consumption.  This has included, most notably, the replacement of almost all of the 1,740 incandescent lights in the library with fluorescent bulbs.  Largely because of this effort, energy consumption at the Lawrence Public Library has fallen by about 18% over this time period:

 

 

 

 

Despite this decline, staff believes there is additional opportunity to reduce consumption through upgrades to the existing Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system.  The Library’s HVAC system consists of five units and a chiller in the basement.  Three of the HVAC units have recently been replaced.  The two that have not been replaced are among the largest of the units and were installed in 1973.  These two units have a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio, or SEER, of 8.  The replacement units proposed would have a higher efficiency, with SEER ratings of 14 each.  This could result in energy savings of up to 20-30% per unit each year.  Staff estimates that total energy usage could fall at the Lawrence Public Library by an additional 3% each year.  This would be the equivalent of reducing energy consumption by an additional 3,800 kilowatt hours (kwh) per month at the Library.  The cost for replacing the two HVAC units would be $250,000. 

 

Additionally, new system controls would be installed at a cost of about $150,000.  The system controls would monitor temperatures in multiple zones of the library across different periods of time, thus allowing the HVAC to use only the energy needed to heat or cool individual areas as needed instead of acting on the building as a whole.  This would result in total costs of approximately $400,000.

 

Convert Downtown Lighting to LED Systems

Downtown Lawrence is lit in large part by 300 ten foot high decorative lights.  Of these, 177 of them are located on Massachusetts St.  Public works has replaced about 27 bulbs and 6 heads and ballasts on Massachusetts St. since November 03 2007, which suggests that about 20% of these lights burn out every 18 months.  Many of the lights run on either mercury vapor or retrofitted sodium bulbs.  The mercury vapor lights are no longer made, and the retrofitted sodium bulbs are extremely difficult to find.  Public works has to replace both the light and the ballast when they burn out in order to accommodate newer types of high sodium bulbs.  Finally, a recent study conducted by public works estimates that over half of the 10 foot poles along Massachusetts Street need to be replaced as well.

 

The cost of replacing the lights with new LED fixtures would be about $1,710 per light.  Staff believes that the price might be 10% lower with a bulk purchase of LED lights.  Replacing the entire 10 foot light with a new fixture, base, and bulb would be about $2,250.

 

If the City undertakes the hiring of a coordinator as well as replacing the HVAC at the Library, there would be approximately $350,000 remaining for downtown light upgrades.  This would be sufficient to replace approximately 100 light fixtures with new decorative light poles and install LED bulbs on all 177 street lights along Massachusetts St.  The resulting reduction in energy demand would save about 2,700 kwh each month.  This is the equivalent of 11% of the light demand on Massachusetts St.  Usage reduction would be higher in the winter and lower in the summer. 

 

Other Energy Related Grant Applications and Efforts

In addition to the EECBG grant, the City is pursuing other energy-related grant opportunities, including:

 

 

 

Also, attached are summaries of city facilities which include condition and energy efficiency upgrades as well as potential projects which could increase building efficiency.  These documents continue to be updated with energy costs and other information.  

 

Staff seeks direction from the City Commission regarding application for the $858,600 in EECBG funds.  As noted earlier, the deadline for grant application is June 25, 2009.