City Builds on History of Energy Savings with New Green Building Contract

For Immediate Release
August 5, 2010

For more information, please contact:
Jacqui Bauer, Sustainability Coordinator, City of Bloomington, 349.3837, [mailto:bauerj@bloomington.in.gov]
Jared Schlemmer, Assistant Deputy Mayor, City of Bloomington, 349.3406, [mailto:schlemmj@bloomington.in.gov]




Bloomington, IN - The City of Bloomington recently signed a contract with Gengee, LLC, furthering its efforts to green City Hall. The contract continues the City's series of recent efforts to make City operations more efficient and to take additional steps toward implementation of its Green Building Ordinance, passed in 2009.

"This contract to audit City Hall will be yet another step in increasing efficiency and reducing the cost of City operations," said Mayor Mark Kruzan. "But it's not the first step we've taken in greening City Hall."

Low-cost improvements in City Hall's operating systems made in the last few years by Facilities Manager Barry Collins have reduced electric bills from a range of $11,000-$14,000 per month to just $8,000 per month.

"I just started asking simple questions like, 'Why are we doing things this way?'" said Collins.

One simple but impactful step Collins took was to install timers on the bank of boilers that heat the City Hall building. The timers avoid peak electric usage, which reduces both the rates the City pays for electricity and overall electricity consumption.

Another easily identified improvement was the recent installation of a moisture sensor on the irrigation system, formerly run by a timer. The new moisture sensor will only trip the system when the soil is dry. At $2,500, the sensor is expected to pay for itself in just three years.

Other measures include installing occupancy sensors in several conference rooms that turn off the lights when the room is unoccupied, and upgrading all incandescent lighting and older-style fluorescent lighting to more efficient fluorescents, which save about 30% of electrical usage. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which use just 10% of the energy used by a fluorescent but are more expensive to purchase, have been installed when the price permits. Facilities staff has also switched to green cleaning products.

Historical preservation is also an important aspect of LEED standards, and one that has not been overlooked when updating the City Hall Building. The building was constructed in 1884 and originally housed Showers Brothers Furniture until the late 1950s. The City of Bloomington moved its facilities to the Showers Building in 1995 and has since made it a priority to keep historical preservation an important aspect of its renovations and updates.

Collins says there is room to save even more, which is where the contract with Gengee comes in.

Gengee, LLC will assess the operations of the City Hall building and identify steps necessary to achieve the green building certification specified by the City ordinance. The Green Building Ordinance requires not only that all new City buildings meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards for new construction, but also that existing City buildings achieve a LEED Silver rating.

"We're excited to work with staff that is so proactive," said Gengee owner and founder Ted Mendoza. "We're miles ahead already, but it will be great to see what more we can do."

Mendoza and his team will work with Collins and his staff to audit the building's systems-including energy, cleaning, landscaping, waste management, water systems and others.

Based on the audit findings, the team will then initiate an application to LEED's Existing Building (LEED-EB) program of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Once the project is registered with the USGBC, the team will initiate a series of upgrades to achieve a Silver rating - the third-highest tier in the USGBC's four-tier rating system - for the building.

The City's auditing efforts will eventually extend to other City-owned buildings as well, but like City Hall, many improvements are already in progress. For example, the Street Department and Fire Department have improved insulation, Animal Control has upgraded its heating/cooling system, and the Sanitation Garage installed a new ventilation system. Further, the newly acquired Twin Lakes Recreation Center is slated to install a new HVAC system and new lighting.

Sustainability Coordinator Jacqui Bauer is happy about the measures underway and what they mean to the City as well as the community. "These efforts save money and resources, but we also hope they set an example for the broader community that simple efforts can make a large impact."

For more information about the City's green efforts, contact Jacqui Bauer at 349-3837 or [mailto:bauerj@bloomington.in.gov].

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