Making a City Energy Efficient

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Making a City Energy Efficient

• Experiences from the City of Medford

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Historic Medford
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History of Medford

• Founded in 1630, 4th oldest English settlement in
  America
• Established as a City in 1892
• Medford was a leader in the Clipper Ship building
  industry and also manufactured brick and tile
• Also famous for it's "Medford Rum" and "Medford
  Crackers"

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About Medford

• Located 5 miles north west of Boston
• 8.64 square miles
• Population 55,765
• Primary Languages
• English
• Italian
• Portuguese

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Medford Demographics-Race

• White 86.5
• Black African American 6.1
• Native American 0.1
• Asian 3.9
• Other Race 1.1
• Two or more Races 2.3

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Medford Demographics-Age

• 0-19 years 21.1
• 20-35 years 24.7
• 35-54 years 28.0
• 55 years 26.1

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Medfords Energy Efficiency History

• August 1999 ICLEI Cities for Climate Protection
• September 1999 Creation of Medford Energy Task
  Force
• October 1999 Solar Panels installed at City Hall
  and High School
• October 1999-City Hall Retrofits and Conversion
  to Natural Gas heat

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Medfords Energy Efficiency History (contd)

• January 2001 Hire Energy Efficiency Coordinator
  (Environmental Agent)
• October 2001 First City in Commonwealth with
  approved Climate Action Plan
• March 2002 Join Rebuild Massachusetts/ Rebuild
  America Campaign
• September 2002 Begin benchmarking building
  energy performance

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Medfords Energy Efficiency History (contd)

• October 2002 Receive 5 electric vehicles from
  Ford convert cemetery to Biodiesel
• April 2003 First Earth Month of Events,
  including Energy Efficiency Fair
• July 2003 Creation of Energy Environment
  Office
• September 2003 Receive 2 Electric Vehicles from
  GM (EV-1) for 2 year use

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Medfords Energy Efficiency History (contd)

• October 2003 Medford is only MA City to receive
  Clean School Bus USA grant
• October 2003 Development of schools maintenance
  plans
• January 2004 Mayor McGlynn appoints 9-member
  Medford Clean Energy Committee
• April 2004 Medford High School EIS online

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How Medford is doing it

• Full-time staff Energy Task Force
• Interns/volunteers
• Grants (over 500,000 to date)
• Utility Rebates
• Partnerships-Rebuild America, EnergyStar, Clean
  Cities Coalition, Clean School Bus
• Press coverage

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Traffic Lights- Conversion to Light Emitting
Diodes

• The no brainer project
• Utility rebates
• Mayor behind 100

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Traffic Lights-Light Emitting Diodes

• Converted from 118 watt lights to 12 watt LEDs
• Cost of project 89,204
• Utility Rebates 40,874 (70Red90Gr)
• Net cost to City 48,330
• Estimated savings 27,600/year with a 21 month
  pay back

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Traffic Lights-Light Emitting Diodes

• Actual savings were 32,220/year generating an 18
  month pay back time
• Life expectancy of LEDs is 7-10 years vs.
  incandescents at 1-2 years
• This creates an additional savings on parts and
  labor

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Building Retrofits/Conversions

• Retrofits
• Lighting Retrofits at City Hall, Public Safety
  Building, Library
• New Windows at Public Safety Building

• Conversions
• Natural Gas Heat at High School, City Hall, Fire
  Stations
• All new schools have natural gas heat

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City Hall Example
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Solar Panels at Hormel Stadium

• No money
• Local Contractor donates time and expertise
• Municipal Workers install
• Panels will cover lights for all night home games

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Plan for Schools Maintenance

• EIS in high school, 15 minute intervals of real
  time data
• Working with State Division of Energy Resources
  and utilities-audits and inventories of all
  schools
• Develop OM plans for each building
• Train current staff
• Initiate energy education in schools

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Keys to Success

• Helpful to have a plan
• Need a champion, preferably elected official or
  decision maker
• Partnerships
• Utility Rebates!!
• Publicity

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Contact Information

• Kim Lundgren, Environmental Agent
• Energy Environment Office
• City of Medford, MA
• 781-393-2137
• klundgren_at_medford.org