ESPC Step A - Investment Grade Energy Audit (IGA) of Municipal Facilities
In 2007, as a precursor to the Audit, the City issued an Energy Services Request for Qualifications (RFQ) “seeking qualified providers interested in implementing a comprehensive, performance-based, Energy Management Services Program with guaranteed energy savings at certain City of Worcester municipal and school buildings and facilities.”
Of the eight Energy Services Companies that applied, the City chose Honeywell International to conduct an Investment Grade Audit (IGA). The project was initiated in part by the need for critical investments to aging buildings (some of which have not received significant upgrades since their construction).
Honeywell International was charged with identifying and evaluating energy use and energy cost saving opportunities in municipally owned buildings including all Worcester Public School facilities (~60% of all facilities). The audit established a baseline from which the savings can be measured.
In 2009, Honeywell International began the investment grade energy audit of all 171 City facilities. These included administrative buildings, school buildings, seasonal facilities, municipal parking garages, sewer and water pumping stations, and more. The audit took 180 days and resulted in ~3,400 pages of documents with summaries including individual facilities’ profiles, appendices, and more. On the City's side, the project was overseen by the recently hired Energy Manager.
As part of the IGA, Honeywell International employed various teams of auditors with the task of gathering all relevant information pertaining to the City’s buildings, such as their sizes, occupancy, energy usage, energy management procedures, and more. The auditors also spoke to building staff and custodians to understand facility operations, equipment maintenance problems, and comfort issues. Additionally, detailed inspections were carried out on all major energy-using equipment, including:
- Lighting (indoor and outdoor);
- Heating and heat distribution systems;
- Cooling systems and related equipment;
- Automatic temperature control systems and equipment;
- Air distribution systems and equipment;
- Ventilation systems and equipment;
- Exhaust systems and equipment;
- Hot water systems;
- Electric motors, transmissions and drive systems;
- Special systems (kitchen/dining equipment, swimming pools, laundry equipment, etc.)
- Renewable energy systems;
- Water using systems (toilets, sinks, showers, etc.); and
- Other energy consuming systems.
The audit provided the City with an analysis of energy usage at existing municipal facilities along with implementing options for energy conservation measures (ECMs).
The IGA deliverables also included a preliminary assessment of various non-building related ECMs, including renewable energy opportunities (solar, wind, biomass, etc.), street light upgrades, water meters, landfill gas recovery, etc., at City owned properties.
The audit found that the City’s buildings occupy ~5,417,659 SF of conditioned areas (the size of 94 football fields!) and that they used about 483,874 million Btus* in the 2009 fiscal year (7/08-6/09).
(*A Btu (British thermal unit) is a basic measure of thermal (heat) energy. It is equal to the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 pound of liquid water by 1 degree Fahrenheit at a constant pressure of one atmosphere. One million Btus is equivalent to fuel consumed by a car traveling 315 miles - a Worcester-New York City round trip!)Table: FY 2009 Baseline of Energy Consumption by Worcester's Municipal Buildings.
Figure: In FY 2009, Worcester's municipal facilities' utility costs (heating, cooling, electrical) amounted to approximately $12 million.
