Ameresco, a clean energy and energy efficiency company, declared that it has contracted an accord with Portland City in Maine to offer energy conservation measures (ECM) to 45 facilities, which includes 15 public schools and 30 buildings belonging to the municipality.
MACTEC, a company that provides engineering, environmental and construction services, has conducted energy audit of the Portland City facilities and submitted its report. It has also conducted joint audits with Ameresco at some of the facilities owned by the city.
The energy audit conducted by MACTEC and Ameresco enabled them to identify and suggest a range of energy conservation measures such as installation of efficient lighting and control systems for energy management and proper lighting controls. They also suggested the upgradation of the existing boiler plant, insulation for the pipes and other equipment, installation of solar PV systems and solar water heaters and finally improvement of the existing laundry plant.
Ameresco will complete the suggested improvements without capital investment from the City of Portland. The company will assure a minimum level of savings, in terms of energy, to the city during the contract period of 15 years. The company has so far assisted the city to avail two commercial funds valued at $100,000 to sustain its initiatives and will continue to assist in securing private and public funds for the projects.
The ECM initiatives in addition to bringing financial benefits to the city will also cut down the electric power requirement of the city considerably thus lowering the level of carbon dioxide and other harmful gas emissions. It is estimated that the projects implemented at a total investment of $9.4 million will allow the city to save over $17 million in a period of 15 years.
Source: http://www.ameresco.com/