Siemens Industry to conduct city energy audit
Date: 9/27/2013
By G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.comCHICOPEE – The city has selected Siemens Industry Inc. to complete an energy audit of all city buildings with the goal of reducing the city’s energy consumption by 20 percent by 2020.
Mayor Michael Bissonnette announced the decision on Sept. 24. Siemens was one of the six companies that responded to a request for qualifications. City officials will now negotiate a contract with Siemens.
Once the contract is finished, the first step will be a comprehensive energy audit of all 95 city-owned buildings Bissonnette said. He believes the recommendations from that audit “will save millions of dollars.”
He said the effort would “involve every department and every aspect of energy use.”
Bissonnette used the savings initiated by Kenneth Parsons, the energy manager for the city’s schools, as an example of the potential for savings. Parsons, who was hired to find energy efficiencies in the city’s schools, performed an analysis of the use lighting and heating, and was able to recommend steps that lowered energy use by 26 percent and saved the city $5.4 million.
Once the audit is complete, Siemens would then recommend plans to create savings and develop a timeline for the improvements, Bissonnette explained.
Tom Foley, Siemens Northeast Zone general manager of Infrastructure and Cities-Building Technologies, said, “Our commitment and ambition is to be here for the long haul.”
Bissonnette and Foley said the funding for the audit would be rolled into the costs of the plans for various energy-saving projects. The mayor said the cost of the plan is $200,000. Foley said Siemens would assist in helping the city fund financing options for the projects.
The city could have applied for funds through Green Community status if the City Council had approved it, Bissonnette said.
Some of the efficiencies will be “low-hanging fruit,” Foley said that could result in more immediate savings.
The intention for the overall plan is to cost neutral to the taxpayer, Bissonnette said.
Mark Sylvia, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, commended the city’s actions and said he was “struck by the enormous innovation at the local level.”
