jan-2018

46 47 MANKATO, MINNESOTA assessment of all the lighting, HVAC equipment, boilers, and all the equipment where there would be a possibility of replacing and/or retrofitting to gain energy savings that would, ultimately, pay for that equipment. “At the time of the agreement, our annual, estimated total power and natural gas costs were approximately $2.5 million; by performing AMERESCO’s improvements, the cost would be reduced by about six to eight percent annual- ly, which is roughly $150 - $215,000. We had several work sessions with the City Council, explaining about these potential improve- ments and what we could do to utilize these energy savings to pay for the improvements. Through Council work sessions, and working with AMERESCO, we came up with a project. At this stage, we’re about 75 percent complete with the entire project, itself, give or take a few percentage points, of actually installing the equipment. “We are replacing and/or retrofitting interior and exterior lighting in buildings, on the parking ramps, and our street lights, as well, with LED.We are putting water control devices in all facility restrooms that don’t already have those water saving measures installed. We are installing building envelope improvements, which can include anything from caulking, all the way up to sealing replacement and/or fixture replace- AT A GLANCE MANKATO, MINNESOTA WHAT: A city of 40,600 WHERE: At the confluence of the Minnesota and Blue Earth Rivers WEBSITE: www.mankatomn.gov percent of land is used for agricultural/open space; residential land comprises 50 percent; and commercial/industrial represents 42 per- cent of the land base. Recently, Business View Magazine spoke with Jeff Johnson, the city’s Director of Public Works, and Tom Fournier, its Facilities Coordi- nator, about two major energy savings projects in which the city of Mankato has embarked: a guaranteed energy savings project with AMERESCO, a leading, independent provider of comprehensive energy efficiency and re- newable energy solutions for facilities; and a community solar gardens project with Geroni- mo Energy, a Minnesota-based, renewable en- ergy development company, whose portfolio includes wind farms and solar projects across the United States. “We were approached by AMERESCO in 2016, regarding a guaranteed energy savings program for the city of Mankato,” Johnson begins. “There are companies, certified by the state of Minnesota, that provide analyses and propose improvements that cities can get financing for - improvements that have a guar- anteed payback in energy savings over a spec- ified period of time. So, the city staff worked with AMERESCO in performing a detailed analysis of our approximately 75 facilities. We walked through the facilities and took an