5. OPEN FORUM HANDOUT 10-20-2014

Home Browse Search

Sherburne County Public Works Department Energy Saving Ideas and Implementation Sherburne County constructed a new maintenance facility in Becker, which opened in June 2008. As part of the planning and design efforts, Sherburne County evaluated many ideas for incorporating energy saving into the facility. County staff and consultants explored a wide range in energy saving ideas. While the technology ex- isted for these ideas, the cost to implement some of these ideas was fairly significant. Because Sherburne County is fiscally conservative, an analysis of the various systems was conducted to determine which ones were feasible to be included in the facility from a cost standpoint. The analysis consisted of determining the initial capital cost, paired with the predicted energy savings. If energy savings within a five year period exceeded the initial cost, the idea was incorporated into the facility de- sign. If the payback period exceeded the initial capital cost, the idea was included in the facility. For the five to ten year payback, the energy saving system was reviewed on a case by case basis. This approach to selecting the energy saving systems to be incorporated into the design was aimed at keeping the capital cost of the facility within a managed budget. The energy saving systems that were included in the facility were an in -floor hot water heating system, natural light in the form of windows and skylights, and automatic (occupancy) sensors for lighting systems. The hot water heating system includes hot water heaters that operate at a lower pressure and temperature than tradi- tional boilers, resulting in a more efficient and lower cost system. The facility includes many windows in the ve- hicle storage and vehicle maintenance areas of the facility. Besides reducing the electrical use in these areas, it provides a much brighter and cheerier work space. This has been particularly helpful to the mechanics that maintain the Public Works and Sheriff's vehicles because it is much easier for them to see what they are working on. Occupancy sensors have been installed throughout the office area, sign shop, road crew shops, and locker rooms. When no one is in these spaces, lights are automatically shut off, thus conserving energy. Sherburne County has also realized a significant energy saving by converting the County's traffic signals to LED. The County received energy rebates from the electrical utility making the decisions very easy. The re- sulting energy bills for these traffic signals by utilizing the LED technology are a small fraction of what the in- candescent bulbs consumed, which was the original installation. Sherburne County, along with the Hennepin County, Anoka County, and Tri- County (Stearns, Benton, and West Sherburne counties), began sending Mixed Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) for processing into Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) in August, 1989. Processing of RDF occurs at Great River Energy's Resource Processing Plant, located in Elk River. This RDF is then used as fuel for production of electricity at Great River Energy's Energy Recovery Facility, also located in Elk River. 30