The Public Works Department operates and maintains over 200 County owned buildings. These buildings include office space, hospitals, clinics, detention facilities and various other building uses. In addition, our Department maintains a variety of public infrastructure including roads, street lights, traffic signals, parks, landscaping, flood control facilities, etc. for use and enjoyment by the citizens of Contra Costa County.
The Public Works Department has continually researched, evaluated and implemented sustainability efforts in various aspects of the planning, design, operation and maintenance of the infrastructure for which the Department is responsible. This report provides a summary of many of the efforts we have undertaken to date and areas we will continue to pursue opportunities in the future.
In 2010 the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors approved the LEED Sustainable Building Policy. The purpose of this policy was to establish the use of sustainable building practices in the design of county building improvement projects in order to reduce pollution (Green House Gas (GHG) reduction), protect natural resources, enhance asset value, optimize building performance, and create healthier workplaces for county employees and the public. The policy incorporated, by reference, the latest version of the LEEDTM rating system, a nationally recognized standard used to rate the performance of buildings and guide project design and construction, in order to achieve the benefits of sustainable buildings. The LEED rating system components include sustainable site design, water and energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and materials and resources. The use of LEED criteria reduces operating costs, enhances asset value, optimizes building performance and creates healthier workplaces for County employees and visitors. By adoption of this policy and the guidelines the County declared its intent to promote sustainable building practices and low impact development in the design, construction and management of all County-owned capital facilities. The County has attained LEED Gold or Silver ratings on several buildings since that time.
I. County Buildings (Energy Conservation, Green House Gas reduction)
A. HVAC
The County has invested approximately $4 million of capital improvements in equipment replacement and improvement, operational improvements and building management controls using energy settlement funds, grants such as ARRA and rebate incentives since 2004. These improvements have been completed at various facilities including West County Detention Facility, Contra Costa Regional Medical Center, Pittsburg Health Center, and the Juvenile Hall Facility.
B. Lighting
Approximately $1.5 million of capital improvements have been completed to improve lighting in and around buildings over the last 10 years. Improvements include: high efficiency fluorescent lighting, high efficiency controls, daylight control systems, LED lighting conversions. Funding for these improvements is through energy settlement funds, grants, rebate programs and utility on-bill financing. These improvements have been done throughout many buildings and we continue to complete them regularly.
C. Cogeneration Projects
We have completed cogeneration systems at four County facilities that account for $3.7 million in capital improvements. These projects are located at Juvenile Hall, Martinez Detention Facility, West County Detention Facility and Contra Costa Regional Medical Center and were funded by California Energy Commission low interest loans. These systems provide both building water and space heat and electricity.
D. Solar Energy Projects
We installed solar PV systems on 16 County facilities between 2010 and 2014. Twelve of the sites were selected as a result of a Solar PV Site Assessment performed by a consultant that was paid through a government grant. These twelve were installed under a third party owned power purchase agreement (Main Street Power). Two were installed through a large rebate program and California Energy Commission loan. The other two were installed primarily with BAAQMD grants and incentives.
We are currently constructing 6 additional Solar PV projects through the Regional Renewable Energy Procurement (RREP) Program. The RREP programs comprised 19 government agencies to leverage combined projects and administrative knowledge to get installation cost reductions. The 6 sites will cost $5.8 million and is being funded by County financing, being repaid through energy savings. These projects will receive over $1 million in California State incentives.
II. Public Infrastructure (Energy Conservation, Green House Gas Reduction)
A. Traffic Signals
Over the last 10 years we have been converting the traffic signal lighting to LED. The installation of LED lighting on street lights saves energy and reduces maintenance costs given LED lighting lasts longer. This process has been on-going and we look for incentives and funding opportunities to expedite this effort.
B. Street Lights
We are working with PG&E to replace all PG&E and County owned street lights in unincorporated areas by the end of 2016. This process is being funded in a partnership with PG&E and will be paid for through our street lighting rates. Several communities are complete or in the process of being done currently.
III. On-going Efforts
Commissioning: The County, through a state funded program, has received both technical and financial assistance to examine ways to improve HVAC operations. This program provides expertise to analyze energy data, building data, publicly available information and mapping software to determine ways to adjust equipment schedules and improve operations. Many of the recommendations that result can be performed through the County’s building management systems. Analysis has determined significant potential savings at specific buildings simply by making adjustments to operations and scheduling while still providing the heating and cooling necessary for comfort. The costs are fully funded by the special program.
With assistance from East Bay Energy Watch, the County has been using US EPA’s Portfolio Manager to provide energy benchmarking to target County facilities that show high energy usage compared to similar buildings in the database. This software will aid in targeting resources to maximize energy and GHG savings.
With a focus on LED lighting technology, the County is continuing with its efforts to covert lighting. The West County Detention Facility (WCDF) is an example of significant improvements being made with LED exterior lighting. The WCDF exterior lighting conversion to LED is estimated to cost $200,000 and save $33,000 in energy costs. In areas of long hours of operation we are also replacing WCDF interior fixtures with LED lighting. Through a rebate program that reduces the cost of replacement LED lamps for recessed can fixtures to $4.00, we are replacing most of these in County facilities. We are also pursuing additional exterior LED application at County parking lots. As LED technology improves in efficiency, color rendering, its application to interior lighting grows. We will be examining LED lighting for general office lighting as it promises to be more efficient and longer lived than the incumbent fluorescent technology with better light quality. Currently we are looking to utility On-bill financing and for these projects as they tend to have short paybacks that meet the financing criterion. Specialized rebate programs will also be pursued.
We will be examining other sites and funding opportunities for solar projects. Other sites on the aforementioned Solar PV Site Assessment that weren’t pursued initially may be good candidates in the current climate. Unfortunately the State Incentives are no longer available at this time.
IV. Additional Sustainability Efforts
In addition to those sustainability efforts surrounding GHG reduction, the Public Works Department has initiated other sustainability efforts related to water conservation and better overall administration of the facilities and infrastructure we plan, design, operate and maintain.
A. Water conservation
Over the last two years our landscape maintenance team has been reducing water use by incorporating better irrigation systems, replacing landscape materials with native drought tolerant plantings and reducing watering as appropriate. Per the Governors recent Executive Order, we have instituted appropriate watering levels to meet the order. We are looking for rebates and funding opportunities to replace high water use landscaping such as turf with drought tolerant native material. Available funding for these kinds of projects is extremely limited for all of our landscaped areas, but we are researching rebate and incentives for this kind of conversion. We are reviewing our guidelines and standards for new landscape construction to incorporate more drought tolerant native materials.
An example of a positive step in these efforts is the current project to replace a large amount of turf landscaping at the Pittsburg Health Center with drought tolerant planting. This will reduce maintenance costs and water usage significantly for this area. We are looking to employ this strategy at other County building sites as well pending funding opportunities.
Another example of exploring new unique ways to reduce maintenance and watering is the artificial turf we placed on a small median island in Pacheco. This synthetic turf is much more aesthetically pleasing than turf used years ago, it is more durable, looks more natural and doesn’t require any maintenance or watering. The cost associated with this type of alternative is relatively high, so its use is somewhat limited at this time.
B. Materials conservation
Materials recycling efforts continue from our Department on many different levels including our Countywide recycling efforts through our Materials Management. We also practice recycling efforts on projects such as cold-in place pavement recycling. This saves natural resources and reduces greenhouse gases because less equipment and trucking is necessary to complete these jobs than a regular paving project. We recycle tree trimmings for use as mulch in our landscape areas, reducing weed growth, reducing water needs and beautifying the planters in the areas it is used.
C. County Asset Management
The Department is reviewing our asset management systems to establish a database of all County assets that can be used by our Department to streamline the way we operate, maintain and manage our facilities. These efforts will allow us to better track all of our assets and determine the most cost effective and efficient way to manage them. These efforts will be beneficial from a sustainability standpoint because we will have better, more reliable information to make strategic decisions on the best way to address maintenance issues, dispose of underutilized assets and determine capital improvement projects that are the highest priority. This is an on-going effort and is already proving to be beneficial by providing more reliable information about County assets.
In conclusion, the Public Works Department has been engaged in the sustainability of the facilities and infrastructure that we operate and maintain. We have been proactive in researching and applying for funding opportunities by engaging the various funding agents available to local government. As part of our strategic planning effort we will need to set obtainable metrics and regularly monitor our progress.
The attached spreadsheet (Attachment A) summarizes some of the data referenced above and shows the GHG reductions for the various improvements we have accomplished. |