On November 20, Department of General Services Secretary Curt Topper kicked off an $18 million energy efficiency program at the Capitol Complex in Harrisburg that will generate an estimated $1.2 million in annual savings.

Secretary Topper was joined by Troy Geanopulos, CEO of The Efficiency Network (TEN) for the kick-off.

Under the Guaranteed Energy Savings Act (GESA), the department has invested in nine projects totaling nearly $85 million in energy efficiency measures at state facilities now and will pay for them over time with the annual savings from reduced utility consumption, rather than using Commonwealth funds for upfront capital investments.

“The savings from these GESA projects are two-fold,” said Secretary Topper. “We are able to save money for the taxpayers and play a key role in saving the environment for everyone.”

The Commonwealth currently has nine GESA projects underway.

Once complete, they will result in reduced energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions will be cut by approximately 17,000 tons is the equivalent of, more than 37,000 trees planted annually and the equivalent of removing more than 3,100 cars off the road for a year and more than 1,500 homes annual energy usage.

The Capitol Complex GESA project will replace more than 20,000 outdated, energy-eating light fixtures with upgraded LED lighting; replace aging chillers with higher-efficiency streamlined chillers; upgrade the Central Plant’s water loop with new pump motors and retrofitting others; installing window film on identified areas of the Capitol Complex that are most affected by peak summer conditions; among other conservation measures.

The project will cover the Capitol Building’s East Wing and the Labor & Industry, Health & Welfare and North Office Buildings and is expected to be completed by Summer 2019.

In addition to the cost savings and new construction, DGS has made improvements to the GESA program, include modernizing the bidding and awarding process to be totally electronic from bid submission to document sharing to the signature process; prequalifying Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) to make the bid process more efficient; and using a consultant and in-house DGS engineer to ensure that the project scopes and measures are effective and achievable.

Visit DGSs GESA Program webpage for more information about the program.

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[Posted: Nov. 20, 2018]

11/26/2018