JEFFERSON CITY – Efforts to reduce energy use by state agencies have exceeded expectations, OA Commissioner Doug Nelson announced today. Since 2009, the Office of Administration has worked with Missouri state agencies to successfully reduce energy consumption by 22.51 percent at an annualized rate of 4.45 percent per year; more than double the target of two percent per year laid out in an executive order signed by the Governor in 2009.
“Our state agencies have continued to answer Gov. Nixon’s call to successfully emphasize the importance of energy efficiency and reduction,” Office of Administration Commissioner Doug Nelson said. “The payoff from these efforts is twofold: reducing emissions has a positive impact on our environment, and minimizing energy use has a direct impact on operational expenditures. I am pleased to see continued teamwork and movement to make state government more efficient and energy conscious.”
In April 2009, Gov. Nixon signed Executive Order 09-18, requiring all state agencies whose building management falls under the purview of the Office of Administration to implement policies that will reduce energy use by two percent each year for the next 10 years. At the halfway point of this executive order, the Office of Administration has achieved the following reductions:
- Decreased electricity use by 58,478,762 KWH (kilo-watt hours). This decrease is a 16.17 percent reduction compared to the 2008 baseline. That’s enough to power 4,400 Missouri households for an entire year, and the equivalent of reducing annual CO2 emissions by 55,000 tons.
- Decreased propane and natural gas use by 600,152 MMBTU. This decrease represents 32.58 percent overall reductions compared to 2008 – enough to fuel hot water heaters in more than 24,000 Missouri households for a full year.
- Reductions in electricity usage combined with propane and natural gas usage resulted in the prevention of more than 90,000 tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the state’s atmosphere.
Despite having one of the coldest winters on recent record, state agencies continued energy usage reduction in 2013, resulting in an annualized decrease of 4.45 percent. The energy-reduction efforts implemented by the Office of Administration over the past five years include:
- Using in-house staff to upgrade lighting at various state facilities;
- Applying for incentives offered by utility companies to make upgrades;
- Implementation of unoccupied scheduling to reduce utility consumption during both the heating and cooling seasons; and
- Working to retro-commission HVAC and automation systems to eliminate simultaneous heating and cooling as much as possible; and to ensure that equipment operation is scheduled to take place in conjunction with building occupancy.
In calendar year 2013, energy efficiency improvement projects across the state included:
- Complete replacement of HVAC equipment and retro-commission of the building automation system at the Missouri Supreme Court building;
- Continuing the installation of LED lighting in parking lots and interior spaces to replace all florescent lights in the Harry S. Truman office building;
- Modifications of HVAC equipment, replaced the cooling coil and finalization of exterior LED lighting installation at the Broadway Building;
- Thermal imaging of the roof and building envelope and electric motor replacement recommendations at the Missouri State Capitol; and
- Development and implementation of a project to interconnect the Crossroads Correctional Center and Western Missouri Correctional Center boiler plants, interconnecting the heating loops to allow for the shutdown of one of the boiler plants.
The Office of Administration carefully monitors energy use at state facilities and implements strategies to reduce energy consumption at specific facilities, such as changes in lighting, heating and cooling. A computer monitoring system is also used by to track and evaluate consumption at facilities across the state.
The Office of Administration has more than 3,200 buildings statewide under its responsibility, totaling 22,610,481 square feet of office space.