BUFFALO GROVE, Ill., Oct. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Through a $7.2 million energy savings performance contract, Siemens Building Technologies announced today it is helping the City of Merced, Calif. reduce its energy consumption while supporting local jobs by hiring local subcontractors to deliver the project. Merced's energy efficiency upgrades and equipment retrofits cover 17 main city buildings, seven city parks and the Merced Regional Airport. Siemens is also replacing thousands of streetlights, a major element of the overall project expected to help Merced save a guaranteed 3.3 million kilowatts of electricity annually.
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"When people think about green jobs," says Merced Mayor Bill Spriggs, "they might not think it involves electricians, plumbers, carpenters and roofers. But through the city's energy conservation project, Siemens is putting some of our local trades back on the job, improving the city's infrastructure and putting Merced on a more sustainable, greener path."
Three local contractors, including Best Electric, Modern Air, and First Day Electric, are already on the job, putting current employees to work, and recalling idled crews to implement facility improvements and install new equipment. Osram Sylvania Lighting Services (a Siemens company) is on the job as well, assisting First Day Electric retrofitting interior lighting at the Merced Civic Center and other municipal buildings.
To finance the project, Merced secured a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment ACT (ARRA) as well as a long-term loan—debt to be serviced by the energy savings guaranteed by Siemens. The expected energy savings should more than pay for the improvements, and once the 16-year loan is paid off, projections estimate an equivalent of $2.6 million in ongoing energy savings available to help Merced keep operating and other expenses under long-term control.
Siemens is systematically upgrading building systems across the city's portfolio of facilities, replacing dated, inefficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems and updating controls with Siemens APOGEE® Building Automation System. Siemens building control technology will provide Merced facility managers with unprecedented system transparency and a much greater degree of control to assure the continued energy efficiency of the city's buildings.
A major contributor to the overall energy savings realized by the project is the streetlight retrofit program that replaces the city's 6,000 sodium vapor lamps with induction lamps, a proven efficient and reliable technology. Upgrading to the induction technology is expected to cut streetlight energy consumption by 44 percent and save Merced more than $268,000 a year lighting its streets and public areas. Because the new lamps have a 10-year warranty, maintenance and other operating expenses are likely to be reduced as well.
According to Siemens' Greenhouse Gas calculator, the 3.3 million kWh reduction in electricity consumption reduces annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2,276 metric tons of C02, equivalent to removing 446 passenger vehicles from the road, consuming some 255,000 fewer gallons of gas.
Siemens Infrastructure & Cities Sector, with approximately 87,000 employees worldwide, offers sustainable technologies for metropolitan areas and their infrastructures. Its offerings include complete traffic and transportation systems, intelligent logistics, efficient energy supply, environmentally compatible building technologies, modernization of the way power is transmitted and distributed, and smart consumption of electricity. The sector is comprised of the Rail Systems, Mobility and Logistics, Low and Medium Voltage, Smart Grid and Building Technologies Divisions as well as Osram Sylvania. For more information, visit www.usa.siemens.com/infrastructure-cities
The Siemens Building Technologies Division is the world's market leader for safe and energy efficient buildings ("green buildings") and infrastructures. As a service provider, system integrator and product vendor, Building Technologies has offerings for building automation, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), fire protection and security. For more information, visit http://www.usa.siemens.com/buildingtechnologies
SOURCE Siemens Infrastructure & Cities Sector
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