Please note this program is no longer in existence as far as we know. This article was reprinted from another blog strictly for archiving purposes.
-Ev
Too Clean Laundry & ME2
City project helps cut energy costs
Plugged In
Energy writer Thomas Content keeps you current as you adapt to changes in the world of energy, climate change and efforts to build a greener economy.
From small laundromats and gas stations to residential complexes, Milwaukee Energy Efficiency is signing on city businesses looking to save on the bottom line.
The project, funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, uses savings achieved through energy-efficiency measures to help businesses pay the upfront costs of making changes that save money over time.
The program has 27 projects funded across the city, such as helping gas stations switch to energy-saving LED lights for their canopies, and enabling one owner to replace water- and energy-wasting washing machines at the Milwaukee laundromat he bought last year.
This owner is replacing 30-year-old washers in the first phase and has already seen his utility bills cut by one-third.
"It's really huge for a small business like myself, because anything we can do to reduce the overhead of our utilities is great for someone who's in the laundry business and uses water and gas and electricity," he said. "I can keep my costs down and, in turn, keep my customers' costs down."
The program, known as ME2, has attracted strong interest for projects that deploy LED technology because the paybacks on the investment is so quick, said Erick Shambarger of the city's Office of Environmental Sustainability.
Energy incentives are available in different amounts, which vary based on the size of the business or the amount of energy savings the project is projected to generate. A maximum of $300,000 is available for a large project that would generate energy savings of at least 25%, Shambarger said.
In addition to more than two dozen small projects, ME2 has worked with Glendale-based Johnson Controls Inc. to persuade two residential properties to undertake major energy-saving changes.Following up on a big project for the Newport building, which is an east side co-op similar to a condo, Johnson Controls is now working at the Edgewater Terrace condominium complex, also on the east side, to replace an aging boiler.
In addition to lighting upgrades, the company installed a ventilation system that recovers heat from the building's common areas and recirculates it into those areas, said Chuck McGinnis of Johnson Controls.
Representatives of Edgewater Terrace "came to realize this was something they've been putting off for quite some time," said McGinnis, director of commercial energy solutions for Johnson Controls. "They decided to address this now rather than let the issues they were having become bigger problems in the future."
The $440,000 project will deliver about $18,500 in energy and operational savings, said McGinnis. A grant of $88,000 was provided by the ME2 program.
"It was very much influential in getting them to do a comprehensive project," he said. Other projects are in the works, including "some pretty major projects" in downtown Milwaukee, McGinnis said.
Expanded interest in the program comes less than a month after Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett announced that the city was joining the Better Buildings Challenge during an appearance with U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. The challenge is a campaign to encourage building owners to pledge a 20% reduction in their energy costs by 2020.
"It's a good opportunity for people to really put their head around what energy efficiency really means," said Shambarger, of the Office of Environmental Sustainability. "It puts a number out there that's achievable and it means something to people."
The project, funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, uses savings achieved through energy-efficiency measures to help businesses pay the upfront costs of making changes that save money over time.
The program has 27 projects funded across the city, such as helping gas stations switch to energy-saving LED lights for their canopies, and enabling one owner to replace water- and energy-wasting washing machines at the Milwaukee laundromat he bought last year.
This owner is replacing 30-year-old washers in the first phase and has already seen his utility bills cut by one-third.
"It's really huge for a small business like myself, because anything we can do to reduce the overhead of our utilities is great for someone who's in the laundry business and uses water and gas and electricity," he said. "I can keep my costs down and, in turn, keep my customers' costs down."
The program, known as ME2, has attracted strong interest for projects that deploy LED technology because the paybacks on the investment is so quick, said Erick Shambarger of the city's Office of Environmental Sustainability.
Energy incentives are available in different amounts, which vary based on the size of the business or the amount of energy savings the project is projected to generate. A maximum of $300,000 is available for a large project that would generate energy savings of at least 25%, Shambarger said.
In addition to more than two dozen small projects, ME2 has worked with Glendale-based Johnson Controls Inc. to persuade two residential properties to undertake major energy-saving changes.Following up on a big project for the Newport building, which is an east side co-op similar to a condo, Johnson Controls is now working at the Edgewater Terrace condominium complex, also on the east side, to replace an aging boiler.
In addition to lighting upgrades, the company installed a ventilation system that recovers heat from the building's common areas and recirculates it into those areas, said Chuck McGinnis of Johnson Controls.
Representatives of Edgewater Terrace "came to realize this was something they've been putting off for quite some time," said McGinnis, director of commercial energy solutions for Johnson Controls. "They decided to address this now rather than let the issues they were having become bigger problems in the future."
The $440,000 project will deliver about $18,500 in energy and operational savings, said McGinnis. A grant of $88,000 was provided by the ME2 program.
"It was very much influential in getting them to do a comprehensive project," he said. Other projects are in the works, including "some pretty major projects" in downtown Milwaukee, McGinnis said.
Expanded interest in the program comes less than a month after Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett announced that the city was joining the Better Buildings Challenge during an appearance with U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. The challenge is a campaign to encourage building owners to pledge a 20% reduction in their energy costs by 2020.
"It's a good opportunity for people to really put their head around what energy efficiency really means," said Shambarger, of the Office of Environmental Sustainability. "It puts a number out there that's achievable and it means something to people."
