MOORE — In an effort to reduce operating costs and increase the efficiency of the county office and courthouse HVAC (heat, ventilating and air conditioning) systems, I spearheaded a comprehensive evaluation by the commissioners to determine the potential of savings for energy systems and maintenance costs.
I maintain that improving the energy efficiency of our office and courthouse buildings is one of the most cost-effective ways to address a number of challenges facing our county. High energy prices, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and depleting resources are all impacted by simply conserving energy.
Working with Commissioner Rod Cleveland and Commissioner George Skinner, the county determined that a significant cost savings could be realized by changing the working hours of the building maintenance staff. Many times a simple common sense approach will produce a noticeable affect on daily operations and expenses.
I also obtained valuable building system information and determined that the new HVAC system previously installed could be programmed to allow the various floors to be individually regulated.
The system had not undergone a proper re-commissioning since the completion of the building and we were not using the system to its full potential. During our evaluation we also learned that the heat and air control computer had not been adequately coordinated with the systems air handlers. We have now made changes that will prevent huge temperature swings in the buildings.
Currently we are studying the possible energy savings that could be realized from reconfiguring the courthouse entrances to an air lock revolving doors type system.
Another of our cost saving measures was to install individualized cooling racks for our computer servers.
With minimal costs we are now able to regulate temperature on individual floors on a varying schedule without impacting the different county departments’ computer systems.
Cleveland has been working with the county’s IT department to maximize the programming system. By implementing all of the above mentioned changes, the county has realized over a 30 percent savings of energy which represents approximately $8,000 per month savings. These savings were realized during the hottest period of the year.
Skinner, whose responsibilities include overseeing the maintenance department will help keep these energy saving efforts on track.
The commissioners in cooperation with all the elected officials, will continue to find cost savings strategies for the county’s economic and environmental health. By being good stewards, we are stretching the counties financial resources.
