High Impact Actions Completed (Advanced 3.0 *) 9,600 points earned:

Benchmarking, Buildings and Facilities, Clean Energy Upgrades, Clean Fleets, Clean Heating and Cooling Demo, Climate Smart Communities Certification, Community Campaigns, County Hosted Trainings, LED Street Lights, PACE Financing, Transportation and Landscaping, Community Solar for Municipalities, Host Clean Energy Installations on Municipal Property. 

County Energy Project Used Energy Performance Contract To Achieve Savings

The County's buildings that house the Sheriff's Department and the Board of Elections at 134 W. Eagle St. were the site for Erie County's successful energy saving heat pump project. An antiquated boiler system was replaced with a heat pump system while also improving the building envelope primarily through new fixed windows.  The County was motivated because the building's workers had been experiencing HVAC comfort and air-quality issues for numerous years, says Reed Braman, Director of Energy Development and Management. The building was chronically over-heated in the winter and the occupants would routinely ventilate the space by opening a window to cool off.  In order to conduct this upgrade efficiently, both the heat pump and the windows had to be done at the same time, otherwise the heating wouldn’t keep up (if no new windows were installed) or the occupants would be overheated (if only the windows were addressed).  An Energy Performance Contract (EPC) made this possible.

With an EPC, the energy savings from the project pay for the project itself over a number of years.  The payback on the replacement of 650 windows and the heat pump weren’t favorable but by combining it with numerous other projects (such as upgrading to LED lights in several county buildings), officials were able to bring it down to a manageable level.

"We were fortunate to have a good team – both our design engineers (CPL architects) and our contractor (J. W. Danforth) worked together to tackle the idiosyncrasies from retrofitting a building like this," says Braman.  "Our primary challenge was phasing the work to work around the occupants and to factor in the long-lead items such as electric panels.  By working off-hours and being flexible on work locations as well as communicating with the stakeholders throughout the building, we were able to minimize the inconvenience for the occupants."

"Our County Executive Mark Poloncarz has made climate goals and energy efficiency a clear priority.  It also helps that there is an entire division within the Department of Environment and Planning that advocates for technologies to reduce our carbon emissions," says Braman. "The leadership in the Department of Public Works from Kristofer Straus and Deputy Commissioner  for Buildings and Grounds Tracy Cichocki, to Commissioner Bill Geary – all of them supported the EPC."

"These projects are possible so long as there’s the will to pursue them.  It may require non-traditional contracts, such as an Energy Performance Contract or a Cooperative Purchasing Contract," Bradan says. "It may also require braiding together multiple incentives and grants to make the project pencil out. Also, finding a reliable contractor who is willing to work with you on the challenges that pop up on building retrofits is invaluable."

High Impact Actions Completed (Advance v.3) 3,000 points

Benchmarking, Community Campaigns, Energy Code Enforcement Training, LED Street Lights, Transportation and Landscaping, Unified Solar Permit. 

Municipal Utility Leads the Way on Heat Pumps

Until 2002, the Village of Westfield was perhaps best known as the manufacturing home of Welch's Grape Juice. Today, the manufacturer is gone and that South Portage Street building is under development as a mixed use property and the Village is charting new achievements in energy savings. Village officials have successfully completed a $8,200 heat pump project that heats and cools its electric shop, breakroom, bathroom and offices. It was paid for by the Independent Energy Efficient Program of New York (IEPP). The IEPP members include 38 regional municipal utilities. Each municipality is allowed to keep a portion of its investment in order to complete projects, said Andrew Thompson, Village Department of Public Works Director.  Heat pumps make a lot of sense in Westfield, Thompson says, because many homes have electric baseboard heat. A conversion to heat pumps is 50 percent more efficient. Because it's a local municipality, homeowners are urged to convert so the non-profit utility can better manage winter demand.

"We are now encouraging all our electricity customers to convert to heat pumps," says Thompson, noting that the conversion goal is 500 households. "It's so much more efficient." The municipal utility provides an incentive of $1,200 to households that agree to convert. "The rebate really helps," he adds.

High Impact Actions(HIAs) Completed (Advanced v.3 ***) 3,200 points earned: 

Benchmarking, Community Campaigns, Energy Code Enforcement Training, LED Streetlights, Transportation and Landscaping, Unified Solar Permit.

Village Energy Champions Collaborate To Produce Savings

Mayor Jeff Gearhart is a strong proponent of heat pumps. The municipality completed a Village Hall project several months ago. "We are supplementing the oil heat source," says Gearhart. Two NYSERDA grants totaling $20,000 covered the cost. "Eventually we hope that oil will become the backup heat source."

Trustee Janet Tweed has given a great deal of time and effort to this project,the Mayor notes. Ms. Tweed helped acquire the High Impact Action points that qualified the Village for the grant. In a demonstration of intermunicipal cooperation, she worked closely with Town Council Member and Climate Smart Communities Task Force Member Christina Viafore to earn the grant prerequisites.

Village Hall on Court Street is an older building and typical of many Upstate New York buildings. "You'd be surprised at how easily this (type of project) can be accomplished," says Mayor Gearhart. Village residents thought it was a terrific idea, he adds. 

Today the Village is working to implement an additional $50,000 grant that will go toward an electric vehicle, electric lawn equipment and another heat pump unit.

High Impact Actions Completed (Advanced 3.0 ****) 3,700 points earned:

Buildings and Facilities, Community Campaigns, Legislation and Regulation, Transportation and Landscaping, Unified Solar Permit. 

Conservation Advisory Council Scores Big Wins for Town

The Town of Olive is planning to install seven heat pumps in its Community Center at the American Legion Hall. The multipurpose building also hosts the town library once a month and is the election site. The project is one of numerous energy projects that the Town has pursued. Supervisor Jim Sofranko is delighted that their efforts have paid off with more than $100,000 in grants, which the Town's Conservation Advisory Council has diligently pursued over the last several years. 

"Matt Kovner has been especially dedicated to this project," says the Supervisor. Mr. Kovner collaborates with Conservation Council chairman David Maddox, and members Daniel White, Chet Karawatowski, Nerissa Campbell and Simon Strauss.

High Impact Actions Completed  (Advanced 3.0 **) 3,000 points earned:

Benchmarking, Building and Facilities, Clean Energy Upgrades, Community Engagement and Training, Energy Code Enforcement Training, LED Street Lights, Unified Solar Permit. 

Village Energy Savings Requires Strong Collaboration

The Village took on a number of energy saving projects that were stepping stones to qualify for NYSERDA incentives to install heat pumps at the municipal building. The 1 Star grant went toward the Fire Department system and the 2 Star grant is going toward the Village offices. The current heating and cooling systems are 17 years old and have been a financial drain on the Village for repairs. Heat pumps require just one system for heating and cooling, rather than having two systems to maintain separately.  

The challenge had been maintaining the old system, but currently the new system has been working well, says Jerry Ward, special projects manager for the Village. Once the new units are installed, that will reduce reliance on the current boiler and extend the boiler's life until the Village can find funding to complete the remainder of the heat pump installations.  

The Village came together on these projects, including the Village Board, DPW Superintendent Frank Nestle and office staff. The team worked together to submit everything needed for the high impact actions and grant applications.  

"For municipalities looking to replace your heating and cooling system in any municipal building, DPW, Municipal Offices, Police Department, etc. the CEC program can help with funding the projects," says Special Projects Manager Ward. "Otherwise you would have to allocate money through other sources such as the municipal budget, which can be challenging."