Here is an e-mail I received from a
municipality in Ontario Canada about saving energy, followed by my response:
Here is my answer to the municipality's inquiry about energy conservation & government subsidies:
Dear XXXX:
There are programs for this,
Federal, provincial, municipal (funded by Feds/Provs), and your
energy suppliers (funded by Feds/Prov). Try NRCAN, Dept.
Environment, Ont. MOE, Hydro1, etc.
Here is one list of some
Canadian funding programs:
http://www.ec.gc.ca/incitatifs-incentives/index_eng.asp?lang=en&jurisdiction=10&actionArea=0&keyword=&submit=Search
How did the municipality decide you need
to focus on lights & thermostats?
Propane is up 28%/yr,
furnace oil is up 16%/yr, electricity is $0.15/kW-hr (with all
charges added in), and will be
rising soon enough. Diesel fuel prices have gone way past
gasoline now that ultra low sulphur diesel is the norm.
Crude has gone from $70/bbl to
$147/bbl in 2 years. While it is only a third of this high
price now, it will soon be rising again when the economic problems
are resolved.
We only have 6 year supply of proven
natural gas supplies connected to the existing pipelines in Canada at current consumption rates
(and propane comes from our nat. gas, so we have 6 yrs of propane
left). What are you going to do if/when it runs out? What will the
prices be like when we have to import LNG from the Middle East? You
think you have a problem now?
Setback thermostats are
cheap & quick for a municipality energy conservation project, and can give some benefits if used properly. Space
heating is often 50% of the total energy consumption for a building.
Lights however are less that 4% of total energy consumption for a
typical building.
However, municipal arenas for example,
suck huge amounts of energy for ice/HVAC. For a small % improvement
in one small part of one municipal arena, you can run the lights 24/7/365 for
free throughout the municipality.
If you want to keep taxes
down, I would suggest that energy conservation/efficiency can be a
job creator, as well as a profit centre for the municipality (ie.
for every dollar you spend to improve, you make many more $
savings). Energy conservation/efficiency increases your wealth and
infrastructure capabilities.
I suggest the main question
is:
If the municipality wants to spend $X
this year for energy conservation/efficiency, where would be the
very best place to spend it?
That's where we come in. We
help your municipality answer that question.
To answer that question, you
need to do a preliminary energy audit for all of your Municipally
owned/controlled assets (all buildings, all functions, all energy
supplies).
Be sure to consider
communication and sensitization program for Municipal employees &
citizens to build awareness & acceptance of the changing realities.
Of course, this starts with reduction (stop doing useless or low
value, high consumption tasks).
For example, yesterday I was
at an organization who was complaining about their $6,000/month
electric bill. On touring their facility, I saw numerous work
stations unoccupied where IR heaters were on full blast, doors wide
open to the outside, -5 deg C outside. I got the impression the
heaters and lights ran continuously, whether somebody was there or
not. Multiply this 1,000 times over, and you have a lot of energy
used with little benefit.
By getting your citizens
involved, the Municipality can be the catalyst to everybody getting
involved. Group projects will get you a discount of up to 40% off
retail pricing from some/most equipment suppliers. Add 50% Fed/Prov.
funding, and you only have to kick in ~30% of the retail cost. Local
trades, students, etc. can get a job helping to implement the group
projects. The entire municipality gets a lift. You turn a negative
situation (rising energy pricing) into a significant benefit for
your municipality.
Where do you want to go from
here? I may be going to XXXXXXXX sometime in the next 4 weeks. If
you wanted to get started, I could come and help you get started at
that time. If you want, give me a call to discuss.
Glenn Black P.Eng. CQE CQA
President
Process Quality Associates Inc.
http://www.pqa.net (800)-837-7046
"We Engineer the Quality of Your Success"
Phone/Fax (705)-377-4039
Cell (705)-348-2229
