The city of Durham's General Services Department
not long ago sank $12,000 into a rooftop solar heater for its
headquarters on Fay Street.
That may seem like a lot of money -- after all, the department, we
presume, had a functioning water heater powered by conventional means
of gas or electricity.
But consider this: The new heater drawing its power from the sun will
save the city an estimated $2,800 a year in utility costs. At that
rate, the new solar heater will have paid for itself in less than five
years.
Not a bad investment, and a reason to be encouraged by the news that
the city will be getting $2.2 million in federal stimulus money to
promote yet more energy efficiency. About half that money will go to
refitting up to 400 homes in the city with more energy-efficient
systems. But half will go toward projects like that solar water heater
to help the city get more bang for its buck, and reduce its carbon
footprint at the same time.
Some of those savings will be readily apparent to citizens. While new
cooling systems for rooms that house the city's computer servers might
be virtually invisible, plans to install state-of-the art systems that
will provide LED lights in city parks and parking decks will be highly
noticeable.
In what is all too often a refrain in Durham, one reason the upfitting
will result in such annual savings is that the original systems were
corner-cutters. They were installed to trim the original costs, even as
they destined the city and its taxpayers to fork up greater operating
costs in each succeeding year. This penny-wise, pound-foolish approach
too often has characterized city decisions, although city
administrators clearly have tried to steer away from it in recent
years.
New General Services Director Joel Reitzer and his staff are preparing
energy-use standards for city buildings, designed to identify and
rectify inefficient designs and systems.
Driven most immediately by expectations of much higher Duke Energy
rates, the changes are not only money-savers, but an excellent
opportunity for the city to set an example for more sustainable energy
use.
Clearly, the immediate changes are just a start, but they are an
important initiative to make overdue but important improvements in the
city's energy usage.
