Commissioners hear savings suggestions

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

GREENCASTLE -- Putnam County Commissioners received a preliminary walk-through of county facilities and suggested savings by a company called Perfection Group on Tuesday.

The company helps customers identify energy savings opportunities by conducting an Energy Usage Analysis to help understand a facility's utility consumption profile. They design, install and support building automation and energy management systems.

Mark Falahee with the Green Building Solutions Group of Perfection and Mark Hunter told commissioners they had several objectives. These included reducing energy usage, improving comfort conditions, providing desired system upgrades and using energy savings to fund or offset improvements.

They looked at the heating and cooling systems in the courthouse, jail, highway department and ambulance center and offered a possible $16,979 annual energy savings and a $6,500 annual operational savings, making a 10-year opportunity of saving $234,790.

"We look at potential savings as well as grant stimulus funding," explained Falahee.

The group looked at replacing pneumatic controls, fan coil unit replacement, retrofitting the HVAC, installing low cost lighting motion sensors and auto flush valves and replacing the 22-year-old chiller, all in the courthouse.

"We also evaluate the lighting to make sure areas are not over-lighted," said Falahee.

At the jail they looked retrofitting the DOS based control system, replacing Hailide lighting, changing the outside pipes so they are not using water softened water, finding a more efficient hot water system and other items.

"We have a repair option versus a replacement option. Depending on what you want you could spend $25,000 to repair versus $53,000 for replacement," Falahee said.

Commissioners voted to take the preliminary proposal under consideration.

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  • How much did it cost us for them to tell the commissioners to turn the heat down? I bet my dad could have done that for half the price.

    -- Posted by worrieddaddy on Wed, Nov 4, 2009, at 6:41 PM
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