WWW.CLEANENERGYRESOURCETEAMS.ORG CASE STUDY: LOCAL GOVERNMENT ENERGY EFFI CIENCY City of Oakdale Takes Steps Towards Sustainability with Energy-Saving Initiatives Written by Julia Eagles • July 2012 The City of Oakdale (Metro CERT affiliate since 2008) is a regional leader in civic sustainability thanks to the leadership of its City Council and Environmental Management Commission (EMC). In 2008, the EMC took the first step by commit- ting to quantify the city’s carbon footprint and use that information to seek opportunities for emissions reductions. Cities for Climate Protection Campaign To help meet this goal Oakdale joined the ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) Cities for Climate Protection Campaign. ICLEI is an interna- tional association of local government organiza- tions that have made a commitment to sustain- able development. In joining the Cities for Climate Protection Campaign, the City of Oakdale pledged to under- take five milestones: 1. Conduct a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and forecast of the city. 2. Establish a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target. 3. Develop an action plan with both existing and future actions. 4. Implement the action plan. 5. Monitor and report progress. The first step toward measuring emissions was to inventory the energy use of the public buildings in the city, including wells, water towers, and lift stations. The city used software provided by ICLEI to take those buildings’ energy usage data and turn it into an emissions inventory. Once this was complete, the EMC set emissions reduction targets for each sector in the city’s operations, including buildings, vehicle fleet, water/sewage, signal lights, and waste. The overall goal was set at a 13% emissions reduction from 2007 levels by 2013. With those goals identified, the city began energy assessments on its public buildings. Those assess- ments, completed through Xcel Energy’s ConservationWise program, uncovered a number Project Snapshot Location: City of Oakdale, Washington County Project: City of Oakdale sustainability initiatives, including residential, commercial, and governmental CO2 emissions reduction programs Estimated Savings: $32,000 in lifetime savings from the new roof & insulation + $13,000/year for Public Works geothermal system & other efficiency upgrades + $5,075/year for the solar array Project Funding: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant program ($50,000); Federal appropriation funding ($400,000); City Funds ($50,880) Oakdale Mayor Carmen Sarrack and Congresswoman Betty McCollum CERTs PARTNERS University of Minnesota Extension and Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships Eureka Recycling Southwest Regional Development Commission The Minnesota Project Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources FUNDING This project was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Minnesota Department of Commerce through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
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WWW.CLEANENERGYRESOURCETEAMS.ORG
CASE STUDY: LOCAL GOVERNMENT ENERGY EFFICIENCY
City of Oakdale Takes Steps TowardsSustainability with Energy-Saving InitiativesWritten by Julia Eagles • July 2012
The City of Oakdale (Metro CERT affiliate since2008) is a regional leader in civic sustainabilitythanks to the leadership of its City Council andEnvironmental Management Commission (EMC).In 2008, the EMC took the first step by commit-ting to quantify the city’s carbon footprint anduse that information to seek opportunities foremissions reductions.
Cities for Climate Protection Campaign
To help meet this goal Oakdale joined the ICLEI(Local Governments for Sustainability) Cities forClimate Protection Campaign. ICLEI is an interna-tional association of local government organiza-tions that have made a commitment to sustain-able development.
In joining the Cities for Climate ProtectionCampaign, the City of Oakdale pledged to under-take five milestones:
1. Conduct a greenhouse gas emissions inventoryand forecast of the city.
2. Establish a greenhouse gas emissions reductiontarget.
3. Develop an action plan with both existing andfuture actions.
4. Implement the action plan.
5. Monitor and report progress.
The first step toward measuring emissions was toinventory the energy use of the public buildingsin the city, including wells, water towers, and liftstations. The city used software provided by ICLEIto take those buildings’ energy usage data andturn it into an emissions inventory. Once this wascomplete, the EMC set emissions reduction targetsfor each sector in the city’s operations, includingbuildings, vehicle fleet, water/sewage, signallights, and waste. The overall goal was set at a13% emissions reduction from 2007 levels by
2013.
With those goals identified, the city began energyassessments on its public buildings. Those assess-ments, completed through Xcel Energy’sConservationWise program, uncovered a number
Project Snapshot
Location:City of Oakdale, Washington County
Project: City of Oakdale sustainability initiatives,including residential, commercial, andgovernmental CO2 emissions reduction programs
Estimated Savings: $32,000 in lifetime savings from the new roof &insulation + $13,000/year for Public Worksgeothermal system & other efficiency upgrades +$5,075/year for the solar array
Project Funding:American Recovery and Reinvestment Act EnergyEfficiency Conservation Block Grant program($50,000); Federal appropriation funding($400,000); City Funds ($50,880)
Oakdale Mayor Carmen Sarrack and Congresswoman BettyMcCollum
CERTs PARTNERS
University of MinnesotaExtension and RegionalSustainableDevelopmentPartnerships
Eureka Recycling
Southwest RegionalDevelopmentCommission
The Minnesota Project
Minnesota Departmentof Commerce, Division of Energy Resources
FUNDING
This project was madepossible by a grant fromthe U.S. Department ofEnergy and theMinnesota Departmentof Commerce throughthe American Recoveryand Reinvestment Act of2009 (ARRA).
of conservation opportunities in each building. These opportunities included the follow-ing actions: furnace and air conditioner upgrades; roof replacements and insulation;boiler replacements; and enrollment in Xcel Energy’s Saver Switch program. Since CityHall was already scheduled for a roof replacement, Oakdale decided to use the opportu-nity to install a white roof and upgrade insulation in the building. The city received arebate from Xcel Energy of $586 for installing the white roof, based on the estimatedenergy savings from a reduced cooling load for the building. The added insulation willalso reduce heat loss in the building, so the estimated energy savings from the new roofare approximately 845 kWh and 750 therms per year, totaling $32,000 in energy savingsover the life of the roof.
Home Improvements
In addition to making improvements at the city level, residents were also encouraged toreduce energy consumption in their own homes. Oakdale was selected as a participantin the One-Stop Community Energy Services pilot program, administered by the Centerfor Energy and Environment (CEE). Metro CERT was also a partner in the pilot program,assisting with the organization and outreach of workshops. In the fall of 2008, the cityheld workshops where residents learned about energy efficiency and conservationopportunities for their homes, focusing on low and no-cost actions. Attendees receiveda number of free materials, including compact fluorescent light bulbs, low-flow shower-heads, programmable thermostats, pipe wrap, faucet aerators, gasket seals, powerstrips, LED night lights, and LED holiday lights. They also had the opportunity to sign upfor a home visit with CEE’s energy consultants, during which they would conduct a walk-through of the home and install energy-saving equipment. 59 households in Oakdalesigned up to participate in the pilot, which later grew into the broader Energy EfficientCities program.
A Much Needed Upgrade
In the spring of 2009, with support from U.S. House Representative Betty McCollum, thecity of Oakdale applied for and received $400,000 from the federal government andUnited States Congress to complete much-needed energy efficiency improvements at thecommunity’s Public Works and City Hall facilities. The funding was a part of the Energyand Water Appropriation bill of 2010, signed into law by President Obama in October of2009. This project continued progress toward reducing the city’s energy consumption,resulting in cost savings for taxpayers while also reducing the city’s overall carbon foot-print.
“Receiving the federal funding really drove home the importance of partnership in tak-ing on these projects,” explained Jen Hassebroek, Senior Community DevelopmentSpecialist with the City of Oakdale, “We couldn’t have made the energy-savingsimprovements to City Hall and the Public Works building without the support ofRepresentative McCollum.”
As part of this project, a geothermal pump system was installed to heat and cool thePublic Works facility, taking advantage of the adjacent water filtration station to pro-vide water for the geothermal condenser loop. The garage bay doors were replacedwith higher R-value doors to reduce heat loss in the warehouse space, which was modi-fied to allow for in-house servicing of city vehicles, including the city’s fire trucks. Otherenergy efficiency upgrades included replacing all the remaining high-pressure sodiumand T12 fluorescent bulbs in the facility with T8s and improving the building’s insula-tion. At City Hall, the HVAC system, which was more than 20 year old and very ineffi-cient, was replaced with an energy-efficient rooftop air conditioner and new boilers.The estimated annual energy cost savings between the two facilities is approximately$13,000 per year.
The city also received an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) in 2009of $50,000 from the Minnesota Department of Commerce as part of the AmericanRecovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The funding was used to create a revolving
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A new energy efficient rooftop unit is installed on City Hall,along with a white roof and new insulation.
City Hall Energy Retrofits
Project elements: -Boiler replacement: Old boiler system replaced with 2 Hydrotherm KN-series cast iro high efficiency boilers rated at 600 MBH input- rated 99% efficient
-Condensing unit replacement: The 20-year old condensing unit was replaced with a Carrier 40T unit with an eer rating of 11.5, R410a and VFD installation
-Rooftop unit replacement:The 25 year old low-efficiency rooftop unit was replaced with a Carrier 20 ton capacity unit with an 11.5 Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) rating
Project Savings:$1,900 per year from the boiler$5,600 per year from the condensing unit
Rebates:$13,900 in rebates from Xcel Energy forinstalling energy efficient technology
Groundbreaking ceremony for the Public Works facilityenergy retrofits with Congresswoman Betty McCollum
loan program for residents of Oakdale, called the Residential Home Energy LoanProgram (R-HELP). This fund allowed residents to secure a 0% interest loan for up to 3years to complete specific energy efficiency improvements to their homes including fur-nace, air conditioner, water heater, and insulation upgrades.
The city did targeted outreach for the loan program to residents in areas of the citywith older housing stock, but there was some difficulty in getting large numbers of res-idents to take advantage of the program. “The challenge in this economic climate wasthat residents have been reluctant to take on additional debt,” Hassebroek comment-ed.
A Solar-Powered City Hall
After spending years working on reducing energy consumption, the city decided toembark on a project to install a solar photovoltaic system on City Hall. The 40 kW sys-tem was completed in April 2012 and uses panels from Minnesota-based tenKsolar.The city took advantage of Xcel Energy’s Solar Rewards program and the Made inMinnesota rebate to reduce the overall cost of installation. The system is estimated toproduce approximately 53,000 kWh of electricity annually, which represents approxi-mately 12% of the building’s average yearly consumption. This would save an averageof $5,075 per year—or $126,874 over the life of the system—and reduce annual green-house gas emissions by 49 tons. This is the second system of its kind in Oakdale; thefirst was installed at Transfiguration Church in the fall of 2010. According toHassebroek, it was again a matter of finding the right partners and taking advantageof timely opportunities that really helped to get the city’s solar project completed. “TheCity Council and EMC were really committed to making this project work, and theytook the time to find exactly the right partners who were able to make solar energy areality in Oakdale,” said Hassebroek.
GreenStep Cities and Beyond
Having already taken so many steps toward sustainability, Oakdale was a great candi-date for the GreenStep Cities program—a voluntary challenge, assistance and recogni-tion program to help cities achieve their sustainability goals through implementationof 28 best practices. The city’s Generation Green commercial building program is evenfeatured as an example of a best practice under the “New Green Buildings” category.In April of 2011, Oakdale was designated as a step one GreenStep City and continuesto take action to build a greener community and reduce its environmental footprint.
For the city of Oakdale, energy projects have offered practical solutions during a timeof budget constraints, helping to meet the city’s energy needs without sacrificing itsdevelopment priorities. “The reason the city decided to take on these projects is two-fold,” said Hassebroek, “we were looking for cost-efficient ways to reduce our cityexpenses and we wanted to meet our environmental goals at the same time.” Theprojects have generally been cost-effective; the state and federal funding the cityreceived helped to offset the higher upfront investments for more efficient systemsthat will result in lower recurring energy costs, saving the city money in the long run.
For more information, contact Jennifer Hassebroek, Senior Community DevelopmentSpecialist, City of Oakdale, 651-730-2723, [email protected].
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VendingMisers installed at Oxford Community Center inSaint Paul
