Electri-City

Energy Efficiency Technologies, Monitoring Systems, and Economic Structures to Save American Cities Energy and

Money

The Challenge + Opportunity

Problems: • Lack of clear incentives• Lack of energy management

training• No comprehensive energy

tracking system• Energy management

administered on building, not municipal level

• Budget cuts have led to maintenance backlogs, making public buildings particularly inefficientIn our proposal, we focus on practical solutions that can help cities to

quickly identify the most cost-effective projects, get past bureaucratic gridlock for funding and implementation, and turn their buildings into models for sustainability.

Four Core Recommendations

1. Prioritize whole-building retrofits and energy efficiency technologies.

2. Collect, track, and share energy use data for public buildings.

3. Create a framework for successful Public-Private Partnerships.

4. Finance these projects through an innovative funding scheme that allows projects to pay for themselves.

Why Whole Building Retrofits?

Building owners typically take the measure-by-measure approach, in which projects arise from individual equipment failure → high marginal cost of replacement

Whole building retrofit: An integrated process that considers interactions between components to achieve optimal cost and energy efficiency

Obstacles to whole-building approach: • Higher upfront cost • Longer payoff time

Why whole building retrofits are worth pursuing: • Decreases operating costs • Increases building value • More comfortable interior, less moisture penetration• Decrease energy consumption • DEEPER energy efficiency with financial paybacks in long

run

Decision-Making for whole building Retrofit

(i) The energy management office must determine whether or not it is worthwhile to retrofit an existing building.

• Structurally sound? Free of environmental hazards?

• Disrupted occupants

(ii) If existing building conditions are worthwhile to upgrade, determine if existing systems are optimally operational before replacing them.

• Perform energy audit

(iii) Conduct retrofit • Selected technical recommendations to follow

Retrofit Technologies

1. Lighting - 21% building electricity consumption

o LEDs are far more efficient than standard incandescent lightbulbs

o Replacing conventional lighting with LEDs can yield high energy and cost savings Ex: A lighting retrofit in a teen

detention center in VA that cost $6,000 yielded expected annual savings of $480,000 and a 14% reduction in electricity use

Retrofit Technologies continued

2. InsulationTraditional: blankets, batts, rigid foam boards (resist conduction)

More efficient retrofits: o Reflective or radiant barriers that deflect radiant heat and

can reduce cooling load up to 10% o Sprayed-foam and foamed-in place insulation o Structural insulated panels (SIPs) have the highest heat

resistance and are very airtight (can yield energy savings of 12-14%)

http://www.stantonhomes.com/images/ SIP construction (http://www.sip.org)

Retrofit Technologies continued3. Spectrally Selective Window Glass

Ex: In a warm climate, a spectrally selective coating can allow 70% of visible light to be transmitted but reject most of the infrared radiation that causes heat build-up and also block UV light

http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/en/consumer/buildings/homes/windows/films.htm

Retrofit Technologies continued

4. Renewable Energy• Solar Water Heating (flat-plate solar collectors)

o Can contribute 20% of heating needs

• Geothermal ground-source heat pumpo Save up to 50% of electricity consumption for heating;

lifetimes of up to 40-50 years

5. Other Miscellaneous Component Retrofits● HVAC and lighting sensors● Green roof● Using LEED rating system● Installing meters to measure energy consumption real time● Recycling and reusing construction debris ● Replacing energy and water appliances and components for

higher-efficiency upgrades

DATA COLLECTION

Precedent: Brighton

LONG-TERM POLICY:PARTNERSHIPs

Public Private PartnershipsGiven the diverse nature of the buildings in the city’s portfolio, ESCOs should act as

consultants and intermediaries to implementing EE interventions

Portfolio Risk Managementthe city and ESCOs should work together to create built-in portfolio risk mitigation

(PRM) into the projects selected

Energy Efficiency Database

4 FEOS FUNDING PROPOSAL

Fund for Energy Optimization and

Sustainability

Special Projects Fund Seed Money

Corporate Sponsorship Program Funds: In-Kind Contributions

Energy Efficiency Projects approved by selection committee

yearly energy cost savings from projects put back directly into FEOS

25% of first year energy savings go back to departments and employees

PrecedentsPittsburgh, Green Initiatives Trust Fund Alaska, Energy Efficiency

Revolving Loan Fund, AEERLP

• provides financing for permanent energy-efficient improvements to buildings owned by the state or cities.

• Borrowers obtain an Investment Grade Audit as basis for retrofit

• Guaranteed savings from energy efficiency improvements are used to repay the loan.

Corporate Sponsorship

• Advertising and the media: an imperative factor of funding success.

• Precedents:o Chesapeake Fund and its successful organization

between government agencies and individual/corporate sponsorship.

o Wisconsin Environmental Initiative and the categorization of sponsorship in order to spur competition to contribute to fund.

Four Steps to Reduce Energy use by 20%

Establish a self-renewing financing mechanism

Channel funds into whole-building retrofits

Track progress and encourage participation through use of WattVision sensors

Form strategic partnerships to accomplish this