Hennepin County has done a lot to become more energy efficient, and they did it fast.
As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the county received $2.8 million in Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. The EECBG grant allowed the county’s property services department to do an impressive number of building efficiency projects.
The county began with an exacting 18-month research process to evaluate energy use in county buildings and identify which buildings needed energy efficiency retrofits the most. County staff worked to design efficiency solutions that provided fiscal returns, lowered carbon emissions, created jobs, and reduced taxpayer burdens. After a thorough evaluation, Hennepin County focused its energy conservation efforts on 12 county facilities, including the Hennepin County Medical Center, the Hennepin County Library – Minneapolis Central, the Health Services Building, and the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC).
Building Recommissioning
Both the Hennepin County Medical Center and the Hennepin County Library – Minneapolis Central received extensive heating and ventilation system adjustments to make sure the buildings were operating at the optimal level of efficiency. The adjustments performed on the Medical Center have annual cost-savings of $590,000 with a projected two year payback, and the adjustments on the Central Library have annual cost-savings of $102,000 with a projected 4 year payback. Hennepin County Property Services made an agreement with the City of Minneapolis to receive $117,000 of its EECBG Grant to help fund the work done at the Hennepin County Library – Minneapolis Central, a landmark in downtown Minneapolis that has sustainability elements incorporated into the building design.
Lighting Retrofits
Through a Facility Cost Share Grant (also part of EECBG funding), the State of Minnesota matched 50 percent of the project costs up to $150,000 for lighting retrofits and a replacement of the lighting control system at the Hennepin County Health Services Building. The upgraded lighting fixtures and controls have occupancy sensors which save the building money by turning the lights off when the room is empty. These improvements have projected annual savings of $30,000 in energy costs, and also qualified for a $40,000 utility rebate.
Eleven of the twelve selected buildings also underwent lighting retrofits. Two larger-scale projects included the Hennepin County Government Center and the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center. All of the 29 floors of the Government Center were re-lamped with low-wattage fluorescent lamps. To reduce disruptions to staff working in the building, the contractor worked overnight shifts to replace the 21,658 lamps over six weeks. The lighting upgrades on the Government Center will save the county an estimated 475,000 kilowatt-hours of energy, equivalent to $55,000 annually in electrical costs.
At the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center, which is an industrial building that burns garbage to produce energy, lighting was evaluated to identify ways to improve efficiency while also improving safety for workers. Following the evaluation, EECBG funding was used to implement a large-scale lighting retrofit that is expected to save $50,000 in electricity costs annually. The facility will lead the way for improved lighting, both for safety and for energy efficiency, in existing large scale industrial facilities.
Traffic Signal Retrofits
Hennepin County also used its EECBG funds to expand the traffic signal replacement program. Over the course of 2010 to 2012, 74 incandescent county traffic signals were replaced with energy-efficient and long-lasting LED bulbs, which have fewer outages and require less energy use. Not only do the traffic signal retrofits save the city money, but they also keep citizens safer. This project is expected to save $60,000 annually in electricity costs and pay back in under 5 years.
Leah Hiniker, Hennepin County Energy Manager, could only say good things about the project: “The traffic signal retrofit is a pretty cool project in all aspects; the communities pay the electricity bill, so this is a dual benefit project in the fact that the cities benefit from the reduction in energy use.” Hiniker added, “we actually gain from the project, because the maintenance of [the signals] is dramatically reduced.”
The Hennepin County EECBG projects gave the county an excellent opportunity to improve infrastructure and save county residents and ultimately taxpayers money. Hiniker claims, “Some of [the efficiency projects] would probably be sitting still on the back burner waiting for some sort of funding source. So I think it really did stimulate and expedite us getting these projects done and maybe even looking at them on a larger scale.” The county continues to work on improving the metro area’s energy use and overall sustainability.
For more information, contact Leah Hiniker, Energy Manager at Hennepin County, at (612) 543-1219 or [email protected].
Project Profile
- EECBG grant award: $2.9 million
- Rebates: $40,000 utility rebate
- Project Location: Hennepin County, MN
- Type of technology: Energy efficiency, lighting
- Energy Saved: Combined $967,000 In energy savings
- Community benefits: Taxpayers save money, more reliable and safer semaphores
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\About the Local Government Energy Action Series:
This year-long effort tells the stories of nearly 50 Minnesota municipalities, counties, and schools and the tangible results of their energy-saving efforts to inspire others to take their own actions.
Local Government Energy Action is brought to you by the Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources.
