South Bend, IN. St. Joseph County hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony at the City County Building on Tuesday, May 14 at 9:30 a.m. to celebrate the completion of their energy savings project. The $10.1 million project was financed through a 15-year performance contract in 2017 with qualified provider Performance Services. The project has provided significant community infrastructure improvements to the county and reduced energy consumption by 31 percent. The community-focused project includes energy upgrades to all 11 county buildings and two park facilities, along with replacing streetlights. This project will have a NET ZERO budget impact over the term of the bond. The project also received the project of year award from the Indiana Energy Coalition.
BUILDING IMPROVEMENTS
- High-efficiency lighting
- Replace, add or optimize building control systems
- New boilers and chillers
- Variable frequency drives
- New lighting and security/fire system at Portage Manor
- New building control system at the History Museum
- Complete HVAC retrofit at the Juvenile Justice Center
- Extensive upgrade to Bendix Woods HVAC system
- New high efficiency lighting and new well and pump house at St. Patrick’s Park
WATER CONSERVATION MEASURES
- Water control technology, low flow plumbing fixtures, flush valves, and faucet aerators
ENERGY LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
- An Energy Conservation Manager will provide focus and continual monitoring to ensure the County buildings achieve maximum utility savings while ensuring occupant comfort.
Corey Noland, St. Joseph Council Member, commented about the project, “This project represents how effective a dedicated group of local Government officials can be when everyone is working in a collaborative manner to attain the best possible results for our constituents. Creating efficiencies and sustainability are buzz words that nearly everyone talks about these days but these are undeniable results of this project. Even more important than the $615,000 in annual utility cost reductions is the two full time maintenance staff employees that will now be able to focus more on predictive and preventative maintenance procedures as opposed to changing light bulbs and constantly battling with HVAC controls.”
