Sioux Center joins Rebuild Iowa

Sioux Center, Iowa, is a small city with big plans to improve the energy efficiency of its buildings.

To further those plans, the northwest Iowa city of 5,800 recently joined Rebuild Iowa, a program of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Rebuild America. Designed to improve energy efficiency, Rebuild America is part of the Climate Change Action Plan.

DOE helps communities form partnerships with industry and other groups and to use local expertise and resources for energy efficiency implementation. It also provides technical information and some administrative funding for direction of the program.

Rebuild Iowa will target energy efficiency improvements for commercial and industrial buildings as well as local educational facilities.

Partnerships important

A cornerstone of the program is formation of partnerships with industry and other groups, said Municipal Utilities Energy Efficiency Coordinator Ron Horstman, who directs the program. He noted that Sioux Center has a long history of community involvement, which helps in forming partnerships with industry service organizations, community leaders, and the news media.

Once partnerships are in place, the municipal utilities share in the cost of conducting technical energy analyses of each building, said Horstman. Other steps in the Rebuild process are to:

• Review each industry’s entire process in an effort to reduce costs
• Identify energy efficiency measures that qualify for funding
• Assist with soliciting bids (if needed) for implementing the identified energy-efficient measures
• Assist with arranging for financial loans (if needed) to pay for implementation of identified measures
• Assist with awarding the work to selected contractors for installation of energy- efficient measures
• Help set up the payback of the low-interest loans through cost savings
• Monitor energy and cost savings for reevaluation of each project

Fire station saves

For example, the energy analysis program led to several energy efficiency improvements at the Sioux Center Fire Station. The 20-year-old fire station underwent a $30,000 retrofit that included repairing the roof, adding roof insulation, and installing new insulated doors and a new heating system.

The new radiant heating system near the ceiling is more effective and energy-efficient. The firefighters commented that it keeps their equipment running better in the winter. Completed in 1995, the measures resulted in a 50-percent reduction of energy use and improved occupant comfort levels. The use of this facility has increased dramatically. Previous building utility costs of about $5,000 per year have been cut in half, said Horstman. The energy-saving improvements should be repaid in less than 12 years.

Sioux Center's 20-year-old fire station is a more comfortable, better operating facility thanks to the city's participation in the Rebuild Iowa program. The $30,000 energy efficiency upgrade included new roof insulation, new insulated doors, and a new heating system, cutting the facility's utility bills in half.

The city’s annual combined building energy use is about 6.5 trillion Btu at a cost of about $5.4 million per year. Sioux Center hopes, through the Rebuild Iowa program, that the results of the fire station project can be duplicated at other buildings, saving energy and costs, stimulating economic development by creating jobs and making local industry more competitive in the global economy, and protecting the environment, added Horstman. (For more information, call Ron Horstman at (712) 722-0761.)

Sioux Center’s 20-year-old fire station is a more comfortable, better operating facility thanks to the city’s participation in the Rebuild Iowa program. The $30,000 energy efficiency upgrade included new roof insulation, new insulated doors, and a new heating system, cutting the facility’s utility bills in half.

From Western’s Power Line:

Management Updates:

Utility Incentives for Energy- Efficient Measures

Websites:

DOE Rebuild America Program:
www.eren.doe.gov/buildings/rebuild/index.html