
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – On this Earth Day 2016, Gov. Jay Nixon announced that state agencies have saved Missouri taxpayers more than $44 million through energy reduction efforts over the past seven years. The savings are a result of an executive order issued by the Governor in 2009 that put forth energy reduction goals. State agencies have not only met, but exceeded, those goals.
In April 2009, Gov. Nixon signed Executive Order 09-18, requiring all state agencies whose building management falls under the Office of Administration to implement policies that will reduce energy use by two percent each year for the next 10 years. The Office of Administration has worked with state agencies to implement energy conservation measures and adopt a State Building Energy Design Standard that establishes and prioritizes energy efficient design techniques specific to the needs and operations of state facilities.
At the end of calendar year 2015, energy consumption was down more than 27 percent compared to 2008, an annual reduction of 3.93 percent and nearly twice the mandate of EO 09-18. Specifically, the Office of Administration has achieved the following reductions compared to the calendar year 2008 baseline:
· Electricity use has been decreased by 66,654,580 KWH (kilo-watt hours), an 18.43 percent reduction compared to the 2008 baseline. That’s enough to power 4,995 Missouri households for an entire year, and the equivalent of reducing annual CO2 emissions by 62,689 tons.
· Propane and natural gas use has been decreased by 741,029 MMBtu, a 40.28 percent overall reductions compared to 2008 – enough to fuel water heaters in more than 29,641 Missouri households for a full year.
· These decreases have prevented more than 172,434,198 pounds (106,039 tons) of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere.
The energy-reduction efforts implemented by the Office of Administration over the past five years include:
· Using in-house staff to upgrade lighting at various state facilities;
· Applying for incentives offered by utility companies to make energy-related upgrades;
· Implementation of unoccupied scheduling to reduce utility consumption during both the heating and cooling seasons; and
· Working to retro-commission HVAC and automation systems to eliminate simultaneous heating and cooling as much as possible; and to ensure that equipment operation is scheduled to take place in conjunction with building occupancy.
In 2015, energy efficiency improvement projects across the state included:
· Finalization of the installation of LED lighting in parking lots and interior spaces to replace all florescent lights in the Harry S. Truman office building.
· Energy audit and implemented energy conservation measures, complete design of HAVC equipment for Kansas City Court of appeals ( ongoing );
· Energy audit and implemented energy conservation measures, consisting of interior and exterior LED lighting and re commission HVAC equipment at Gorge Washington Carver State Office Building (ongoing);
· Developed and implemented new sequence of operations for heating system for North East Correctional Center;
· Developed and implemented new sequence of operations for new chillers at the Fletcher Daniels State Office Building;
· Developed and implemented complete on demand domestic water heating system for Center for Behavioral Medicine.
· Retro commission air handlers at School for the Blind, Sikeston Regional Center MH, Green Valley State School and College View State School.
· Completed design and upgrade of interior and exterior LED lighting at Troop F, Troop I, Troop G Highway Patrol Headquarters (ongoing );
· Designed and upgraded interior lighting at North Service Center, South Service Center, Mill Creek State Office Building and St. Louis State Office Building.
· Designed and upgraded exterior lighting to LED at all state owned parking lots in Jefferson City and North West Psychiatric Center and Higginsville Habilitation Center.
The Office of Administration carefully monitors energy use at state facilities and implements strategies to reduce energy consumption at specific facilities, such as changes in lighting, heating and cooling. A computer monitoring system also tracks and evaluates consumption at facilities across the state. The Office of Administration has more than 3,200 buildings statewide under its responsibility, totaling almost 22.8 million square feet of office space.