U.S. Department of Energy lauds county for program implementation
Fayette County and two local agencies were recently honored in Colorado for innovative ideas to help residents and businesses be more energy efficient.
Members of the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority, Private Industry Council of Westmoreland/Fayette Inc. and county government recently attended the 2013 U.S. Department of Energy Better Buildings Neighborhood Program, where they received a certificate from Dr. Kathleen Hogan, deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency, U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, for the county’s accomplishments.
“Fayette County was a standout awardee for the implementation of its revolving loan program for the Better Buildings Program,” said Brad Geyer, private industry council energy supervisor.
Geyer, along with Sean Sypolt, Private Industry Council project manager; Art Cappella, county grant writer and Al Jeffries, redevelopment authority housing development director, were the county representatives at the conference.
The county Better Buildings Neighborhood Program resulted from a $4.1 million grant awarded to the county in 2010 through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The administration of the funds and program implementation was tasked to the redevelopment authority and the Private Industry Council.
Geyer said that Fayette County was the only rural county named as a recipient of the funding.
“Our mandate was twofold,” he said. “The first level was to have an energy audit or assessment done of the home or building, and then implement a plan that would save the owner at minimum of 15 percent on their utility costs.”
However, before the program could be implemented, the county had to train the personnel to conduct the audits.
“The grant included training funding, and with the industry council being a workforce development agency, we were able to take unemployed and underemployed workers and give them the skills needed to do the audits,” said Geyer, adding that the training also extended to those already employed by heating and cooling companies to expand its services.
The Private Industry Council also oversaw the commercial building aspect of the program.
Among the dozen or so buildings that have had improvements made were the South Connellsville Borough Building, a Fayette EMS station, a Bruderhof site and four buildings at the Joseph A. Hardy/Connellsville Airport.
In addition to zero-percent loans, building owners were also eligible to receive a grant to help defray the overall costs that were generally tied to furnace and insulation installation.
“Everyone has a little bit of money in the game,” said Geyer.
John “Bud” Neckerauer, airport manager, said that while utility cost savings have yet to be documented, a substantial savings has been realized through the purchase of new equipment and installation.
“The change-out of four, very old furnaces for four new furnaces was something the authority could have never afforded to do at the same time,” he said. “However, through this program, we were able to save about $60,000.”
Because the furnaces were replaced after the winter heating season, Neckerauer said that the cost savings are unknown.
“It has to be a lot less,” he said. “Our utility bills were very high.”
Andrew French, redevelopment authority executive director, said that nearly 800 residences have been retrofitted through the program with another 125 on the yet-to-do list.
The energy audit, said French, allows the homeowner to determine what improvements need to be made to the residences, with most involving ventilation, caulking, insulation and heating and/or cooling equipment.
“We had a little bit of a slow start, but through word of mouth the benefits of the program were soon learned, and I think that’s likely why we have done little advertisement,” said French.
While the funding is dwindling, there are still a few slots available in both the residential and commercial programs.
Geyer said that businesses with a minimum of 10,000 square feet and in need of utility retrofitting should contact the private industry council at 724-437-2590. Residential owners can obtain information about the program at the redevelopment authority’s website at www.racfpa.org.
Geyer, meanwhile, said that the agencies will continue to seek funding for the program.
“Through the program we were able to help people stop throwing money out their window,” he said. “We trained and re-educated our work force and put them to work. Of all the stimulus programs, this has to be the most effective.”