Dallas, TX Energy Efficiency Measures
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Type: Policy
Status: Ongoing
Source File: http://www.greendallas.net/energy_efficiency.html
Description:
Saving energy saves money — it’s that simple. Less energy used means less energy needs to be produced, which in turn, improves air quality. The City of Dallas continues to look for creative ways to save energy at its facilities and on its energy-using equipment.
- City Council authorized the largest procurement of renewable energy in the City’s history; in 2008, 40 percent of the City’s power will come from renewable energy, primarily from wind power, making Dallas the No.1 municipal purchaser of green power in the nation.
- The State Energy Conservation Office and the Texas Energy Partnership gave the City an award for outstanding achievements in energy efficiency.
- The City has reduced its overall energy usage at its existing facilities by almost 5% per year over the past five years, through such means as the purchase of energy efficient lighting and lighting upgrades, and the installation of solar panels, high efficient heating and air conditioning systems and automated building controls.
- Nearly half of the street lights in Dallas are now lit by renewable “green power.”
- Regular incandescent traffic signals cost Dallas about $2.1 million annually in electricity costs. By converting to energy-efficient LED traffic lights at approximately 11,000 City intersections, the City is cutting annual energy consumption by 14.5 million kilowatt hours per year. Not only do the new lights save taxpayers’ money, but the LED signals are also easier to see, and thus make driving safer.
- Between 3 million and 4 million cubic feet of methane gas is captured every day at the City’s McCommas Bluff Landfill. The gas can be purified and used as an alternative fuel, or it can be traded to a local natural gas production company pays the City back in electricity. Over the next three to five years, the City plans to increase its capture of methane by as much as 300 percent. If this much methane is swapped for electricity, managers believe it can save the City between 30 and 50 percent of its current electricity purchases.
- Through Performance Management Contracting at City-owned buildings, the City of Dallas has conducted four comprehensive energy projects for its major buildings. For example, the contract for City Hall resulted in the replacement and upgrading of chillers, boilers, and lighting, and cooling towers; automated controls for HVAC and lighting and installations of solar panels. This project has resulted in a 5,790,165 kWh and 3,730.3 tons of CO2 reduction. The project for the art museum resulted in a savings of approximately $800,000 per year.