Paul here. It seems like a long time ago, but at one point I thought it would be a great idea to help the town and volunteer to serve on the newly formed Energy Committee. I figured with my lighting experience, I could contribute to the town's efforts to save energy. I did not think that one meeting per month would be difficult, but business travel and family commitments made it very challenging. I had to resign my official status, and told them I would be glad to help them when the focus was primarily lighting. Well, they took me up on the offer and I have spent several nights during the past few weeks discussing lighting/energy retro-fit projects in all of the town's buildings. Tonight I reviewed the contractor's proposal, and identified where I felt the information was not accurate, and where they could focus for optimum savings. The hardest aspect is to determine the actual hours of usage of some of the buildings and rooms. In my business world, stores are open at least 12 hours per day. 363 days per year. It's easy to justify investing in even moderate energy saving material, because the payback is often less than 2 years. However, many rooms in town hall, and the police/fire stations are not used more than 10-20 hours per week. Even dramatic energy saving measures can take over 10 years to pay for itself. Of course, the contractors proposing the work are not quick to point this out. We are also considering an energy retro-fit for Pine Hill School, which brings up another complete list of challenges. I'm glad to help, but some of the issues can become complicated and it can take several hours to review and come up with a consensus. I have great respect and admiration for the permanent members of the committee, who sacrifice their time and effort to help the town reduce our energy demand.
No comments:
Post a Comment