Improve Energy Efficiency & Get Some Green from Uncle Sam

A study recently released by consulting giant McKinsey estimates that an investment of $520 billion in energy-saving improvements could produce $1.2 trillion in savings on energy bills through 2020. According to the study, "if carried out over the next decade," the program "could cut the country's projected energy use in 2020 by about 23 percent." New York Times (7/30, B3, Galbraith)

Half a trillion dollars may be a staggering sum, but the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed in February, included $10 to $15 billion in spending on energy efficiency.

Some of the spending goes to the US Department of Energy (DOE), which issues Energy Efficiency and Conservation Community Development Block Grants (EECBG) to encourage investments in energy efficiency and conservation. The EECBG program is designed to assist US cities, counties, states, territories and Indian tribes in a number of initiatives, including reducing the total energy use of the eligible entities, and improve energy efficiency in the transportation, building and other sectors. The program includes a competitive grant component. Since OHM is focused solely on public use infrastructure and facilities, we'll list grant-eligible activities in that sector:

-Development of an energy efficiency and conservation strategy;

-Building energy audits and retrofits, including weatherization;

-Financial incentive programs for energy efficiency such as energy savings performance contracting, on-bill financing, and revolving loan funds;

-Installation of distributed energy technologies including combined heat and power and district heating and cooling systems;

-Installation of energy efficient traffic signals and street lighting; and

-Installation of renewable energy technologies on government buildings.

OHM is one of the DOE's certified Technical Energy Analysis(TEA)consultants. Tracie Williams, PE, describes the energy audit as the first step in increasing energy efficiency in a building. "The audit is like your benchmark; it tells you where you are currently, and what effect various changes could have on your energy usage."

The energy audit starts with an analysis of the building's existing energy costs, including infrastructure sytems and the envelope of the building.

Next is a report of existing conditions.

The third component of the audit is a list of energy usage improvements, which includes the improvement's cost to prioritize investment dollars.

The final piece of the audit lists the improvements with their associated payback period.

An audit may be necessary to pursue EECBG grants. We'll provide more information in future communications. In the meantime, contact OHM for any questions about energy audits or measures to increase efficiency and reduce costs.