Overview

When the State of New Jersey noticed its New Lisbon Developmental Center (NLDC) was incurring higher energy bills than other facilities of similar size and type, they selected Entech to perform an energy audit to identify energy conservation measures (ECM), savings projections, implementation/construction costs, and payback calculations. Furthermore, oversight of design and implementation of selected ECMs and measurement and verification of actual energy savings one year after ECM implementation, was included in the project.

After the energy audit, we recommended projects with an estimated cost of over $14.1M, which would save the NLDC over $2.3M annually, resulting in a 6.1 year payback period. After the audit, the NLDC implemented all recommended energy projects. Final construction costs were lower than anticipated, and annual energy savings were confirmed slightly higher than our $2.3M per year estimate, reducing their annual energy costs by 58.5%.

Solution Details

The NLDC, is owned and operated by the State of New Jersey. Founded in 1914, it contains approximately 60 buildings ranging in age from 40 to 60 years old, and consists of over 519,000 square feet of administrative, health, educational, utility, storage, and residence facility space. Central utilities that consist of on site, central steam boiler heating, and two-stage steam absorption chiller plants service most of the campus’ buildings.

After noticing significantly higher utility bills and observing underground steam distribution issues, the NLDC selected Entech to perform a comprehensive energy audit, energy reduction plan, and energy savings confirmation. The project included creating an energy usage baseline, identifying ECMs and their projected savings and implementation costs, overseeing ECM implementation, and metering and confirming actual energy savings. Additionally, we assisted the NLDC in securing project funding through New Jersey’s Pay for Performance Clean Energy Program.

After the audit, we recommended 10 ECMs that were projected to reduce the NLDC’s energy costs by 39% or $2.3M annually. Major projects included lighting conversions, installing roof insulation, a central chiller retrofit, and decentralizing and converting heating to natural gas as a fuel source. Construction estimates for all of the ECMs were $14.1M, resulting in a simple payback period of 6.1 years.

The NLDC implemented all recommended ECMs and we oversaw the design and implementation. After a year of operation, we measured the energy usage for the NLDC and measured a total energy savings of $2.59M annually, which is a 58.5% reduction.