Austin County stands to save quite a bit of money in the long run by changing to more efficient energy consuming equipment.  This is according to Way Service, Ltd, a company that specializes in mechanical design-build and demand side energy management solutions for commercial and industrial plants and facilities both public and private.  Way Service conducted their inspection of county facilities in August and found that there was an inefficiency level of around 35%.  

This inefficiency stems from several things:

  • 60% of infrastructure is obsolete
  • Higher than average operational cots in surveyed county buildings
  • Comfort issues impacting employees and public throughout county
  • Reactive maintenance, repair, and capital replacement
  • No long term asset management plan

The solutions put forth by Way Service to these issues included:

  • Upgrading lighting to more efficient LED
  • Implement new control systems such as installing commercial grade communicating thermostats on all county buildings and replacing old pneumatic control systems with Building Automation Systems.
  • Replacing obsolete and inefficient units that take care of heating and cooling and addressing comfort issues that are leading to increased use
  • Retro-commissioning equipment that is not necessarily old but, needs key upgrades to increase its efficiency.
  • And finally, to put in place support services to conduct energy audits of the equipment, proper budgeting to make sure the upgrades stay within the proper efficiency parameters and, take advantage of energy rebates and incentives available to the county.

The company estimates a savings over a 15 year period was estimated to be over $2 million.  After the presentation a few commissioners asked for clarification on a couple of items.  The court voted unanimously to move forward with these key improvements.

The entire presentation and discussion afterward is available for viewing in the video below.

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