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Allegheny County, PA
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Allegheny County expects to save nearly $13.7 million in energy operating costs over the next 10 years. The new energy-efficient equipment and retrofits required to realize these savings will
not cost taxpayers a penny, because NORESCO arranged to finance them entirely from the energy-cost savings - with no downpayment or up-front charges. Energy to be saved from the
pilot project through Phase II of the program will exceed 20 million kWh of electricity per year, more than 29,000 MCF of gas per year, and more than 90 million gallons of water per year.
| Location: | Pittsburgh, PA | | Project Cost: | Pilot Project: $980,000
Phase III: Under development | Phase 1: $4.6
Total: $8.9 million | Phase II: $3.3 million | | | Annual Cost Savings: | Pilot Project: $150,000
Phase III: Under development | Phase I: $740,828
Total: $13.7 million | Phase II: $478,308 |
| | Annual Environmental Savings: | 16,736.75 tons of air pollutants: 32,982,694 lb. of CO2; 372,655 lb. of SO2; 118,158.9 lb. of NOx
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Technical Overview
Project Type: Under a master Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC), NORESCO is providing comprehensive energy services for more than 100 of Allegheny County's facilities in four phases.
NORESCO has guaranteed a total savings of more than $13.7 million over 10 years for the pilot project and first two phases of the program, and is currently working with the county's energy task force to study and implement additional savings opportunities for Phase III.
Facility Description: County government, 100+ buildings, more than 3.43 million square feet
Contract Term: 10-year Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC)
Financing: NORESCO arranged financing and, in compliance with Pennsylvania's Guaranteed Energy Savings Act 57, Title 62 (formerly known as Act 29), guaranteed that total energy savings in each of the 10 program years would exceed the cost of capital equipment and labor.
Installation Period: Summer 1998 - Ongoing
The pilot project, which is saving about 2.1 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity and 5,600 million cubic feet (MCF) of natural gas, included:
- Installing an energy management system at the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center
- Retrofitting the lighting system at the detention center
- Replacing two aging chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)-based chillers with less environmentally harmful
and more efficient chillers, and refurbishing the cooling tower at the Shuman Center
- Installing a new refrigerator condenser and new gas kitchen equipment at the detention center
- Installing energy-efficient lighting and windows at the health department offices
Phase I is designed to conserve about 40 million gallons of water, 6,673,616 kWh of electricity and 8,990 MCF of gas annually. It encompasses:
- Retrofitting almost 20,000 lighting fixtures at the county's five downtown Pittsburgh facilities
- Installing new energy management systems and controls at the four Kane Regional Medical Centers
and the North Park Ice Skating rink, and programmable thermostats at various North Park facilities
- Replacing inefficient kitchen equipment at the Kane Centers
- Installing over 600 low-flow water-saving toilets, 1,100 faucet restrictors, 31 low-flow shower heads,
and new laundry systems and front-load washers at the four Kane Centers and Shuman Juvenile Detention Center; doing maintenance and repair work on the North Park water distribution system
- Replacing a cooling tower at the county court house
- Performing a cogeneration study for the downtown facilities and airport industrial park complex
Phase II is expected to save more than 11,841,567 kWh of electricity, 14,607 MCF of gas and more than 50 million gallons of water a year. It addresses:
- Replacing or retrofitting more than 12,000 inefficient lighting fixtures at the new Allegheny County Jail and 48 park and recreation facilities
- Installing a new energy management system with direct digital controls (DDC), retrofitting more than 1,800 windows with 1/2-inch Lexan, and installing a water meter for the cooling tower at the new Allegheny County Jail
- Repairing the condensate piping system at the jail
- Converting the kitchen air handling unit to a variable air volume system at the jail
- Adding a chemical feed unit to the steam system to ensure preservation of the pipes at the jail
- Installing a new air handling unit for the print shop and battery back-up and emergency lighting
for a laboratory at the county office building
- Installing a new DDC energy management system at the county courthouse, and county office building
- Adding new sprinkler piping in an air supply tunnel within the county courthouse
- Repairing a steam valve, cleaning ducts and the tunnel, and rehabilitating the supply air system
at the county courthouse
Measurement and Verification
Verification of the energy savings is accomplished with individual protocols developed specifically for each improvement. Using calculation methodology detailed in the energy audit report, NORESCO
establishes the critical variables that must be trended to verify that the savings are being achieved.
Typical methods that are being employed include end-use metering, computer monitoring, data loggers, and engineering calculations.
Customer Comments
"There's a lot of interesting technology out there, and we're taking advantage of it through a guaranteed-savings arrangement that involves no risk to taxpayers. We had an independent
third-party engineering consultant review the contract and validate the projected energy savings.
And NORESCO bears the financial risk if, by some chance, the entire cost of capital equipment is not covered by the energy-cost savings."
- Allegheny County Senior Administrator Tom Kelley
NORESCO Comments
"This energy savings program was initially spurred by Pennsylvania's Guaranteed Energy Savings
Act 29. The act enables commonwealth entities such as towns and schools to enter contracts in which
savings are guaranteed to pay for capital improvements over a term not to exceed 10 years. NORESCO
pioneered this type of contract, which provides for facility improvements without capital expenditures.
For government entities allowed to take advantage of such contracts, they provide an innovative means
of making essential improvements without increasing taxes or taking funds from other programs."
- NORESCO Randy Clark
Click here to view the full PDF.
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NORESCO
One Research Drive
Westborough, MA 01581
Telephone - 508-614-1000
1-888-NORESCO
Fax - 508-836-9988
info@noresco.com
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