Plumas County

Description:

Aircon Energy performed a comprehensive countywide energy retrofit project at the County of Plumas. The project addressed their following concerns:

Aging Facilities and Equipment:

The County Buildings considered in this proposal were approximately 8 to 50 years of age.

Increasing Maintenance Costs:

With the mechanical systems approaching the end of their life expectancy the cost of repairing the equipment was rising.

Energy Bills

The cost of energy continued to grow while expense budgets were getting trimmed back. Energy consumption for county buildings, although typical for buildings of their respective ages, was high when compared to buildings retrofitted with energy efficient lighting and mechanical equipment.

Environmental Constraints

Complying with environmental regulations was very important to Plumas. The EPA has determined that ballasts containing PCBs, CFC-based refrigerants, and building components containing asbestos are hazardous materials. Furthermore, the EPA has regulated the disposition of these materials and, in the case of the old refrigerants, has begun to phase them out completely. Plumas County needed to feel confident that substantial fines and penalties for non-compliance were eliminated.

Aircon Energy worked with Plumas County to provided answers to all the counties concerns with a comprehensive program that included over 15 mechanical measures such as new boilers, package A/C units, fan coils, condensing units, pumping systems, economizers and air balancing, lighting systems and DDC automation and control systems were also included as part of the project.

To ensure success Aircon performed a detailed needs analysis and in-depth facility survey. Our survey included interviews with maintenance staff and detailed analysis of the facilities. By interviewing the staff, we determined equipment usage and peculiarities. Our analysis allowed us to gather detailed equipment information, and observe its condition and location to note any opportunities for equipment/building control. We also gathered information from the building occupants as to building usage patterns and any problems they encounter.

Aircon Energy delivered all major components of this project first party with the exclusion of lighting installation witch was performed by Sylvania.