Marshall County Schools Energy Efficiency Program - Job Preserver, Energy Saver

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Mar 12, 2012, 04:06 ET

BUFFALO GROVE, Ill., March 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In March 2009, Marshall County Tenn. school administration officials had Siemens Building Technologies Division perform a preliminary analysis to better understand the energy and water consumption characteristics of their school and administrative facilities. Ultimately, a comprehensive energy audit led school administrators to sign a $3 million energy savings performance contract that in its construction phase put local contractors back to work and is now saving the county more than $227,000 in equivalent annual energy costs.

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"Every penny we don't have to spend heating, cooling and lighting our schools puts us in a better position to financially support our main mission; which is educating our children," said Roy Dukes, Marshall County Director of Schools. "Our energy efficiency program investment with Siemens will produce many long-lasting dividends including a healthier, more comfortable learning environment where students and faculty can thrive, and ultimately succeed."

Fifty miles south of Nashville, Marshall County, encompassing four towns (Lewisburg, Chapel Hill, Cornersville and Petersburg), is known for producing more state governors than any other county in Tennessee. Like many areas of the U.S., the county continues to be affected by the weakened economy, with unemployment figures as high as 20 percent in 2010. According to Sheldon Davis, Maintenance Supervisor for Marshall County, the project contributed to stimulating the local economy, "and that helped put money back into the community."

In May 2011, Siemens began the construction phase of the project using local and regional contractors to complete HVAC and lighting system upgrades and other improvements to the county's 10 schools and administrative building. As a result, facility improvements have generated significant energy savings including:

Electricity consumption reduction of 845,308 kWh annually
Water conservation of 2,139,655 gallons per year
2,812 therms of natural gas per year
418 therms of natural gas per boiler per school per year
CO2 emissions cut by 249,751 pounds per year

To achieve these results, a Siemens Apogee® Building Automation System was installed to more efficiently control and monitor HVAC and other energy-intensive building systems in most of the schools. Local contractors installed lighting improvements to all 11 school buildings exchanging existing fixtures with lower-wattage rated fixtures and occupancy sensors to turn lights off automatically. Water-conserving plumbing fixture upgrades reduced maintenance and water use. Additionally, the existing domestic hot water boilers at two schools were replaced with new high-efficiency boilers. Other improvements included installing new, water conserving dishwashers in three schools, and new thermal-pane windows at one school.

Even though the project's construction phase has concluded, over the 13-year duration of the contract Siemens will annually measure and verify the energy savings the project achieves for the county. This relationship ensures that the facility improvements, which are financed based on guaranteed energy savings, will continue to deliver long-term financial and operational benefits to Marshall County.

Siemens Infrastructure & Cities Sector, with approximately 87,000 employees worldwide, offers sustainable technologies for metropolitan areas and their infrastructures. Its offerings include complete traffic and transportation systems, intelligent logistics, efficient energy supply, environmentally compatible building technologies, modernization of the way power is transmitted and distributed, and smart consumption of electricity. The sector is comprised of the Rail Systems, Mobility and Logistics, Low and Medium Voltage, Smart Grid and Building Technologies Divisions as well as Osram Sylvania. For more information, visit www.usa.siemens.com/infrastructure-cities.

The Siemens Building Technologies Division is the world's market leader for safe and energy efficient buildings ("green buildings") and infrastructures. As a service provider, system integrator and product vendor, Building Technologies has offerings for building automation, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), fire protection and security. For more information, visit http://www.usa.siemens.com/buildingtechnologies.

SOURCE Siemens