BUFFALO GROVE, Ill. — Through a $7.2 million energy savings performance contract, Siemens Building Technologies announced it is helping the city of Merced, Calif., reduce its energy consumption while supporting local jobs by hiring local subcontractors to deliver the project. Merced’s energy efficiency upgrades and equipment retrofits cover 17 main city buildings, seven city parks, and the Merced Regional Airport. Siemens is also replacing thousands of streetlights. The overall project is expected to save 3.3 million kilowatts of electricity annually.

Merced Mayor Bill Spriggs said, “Siemens is putting some of our local trades back on the job, improving the city’s infrastructure and putting Merced on a more sustainable, greener path.”

Three local contractors, including Modern Air, Best Electric, and First Day Electric, are on the job, putting current employees to work, and recalling idled crew members to implement facility improvements and install new equipment. Osram Sylvania Lighting Services (a Siemens company) is on the job as well, assisting First Day Electric in retrofitting interior lighting at the Merced Civic Center and other municipal buildings.

To finance the project, Merced secured a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment ACT (ARRA) as well as a long-term loan — debt to be serviced by the energy savings guaranteed by Siemens. Those energy savings are expected to more than pay for the improvements, and once the 16-year loan is paid off, projections estimate an equivalent of $2.6 million in ongoing energy savings available to help Merced keep operating and other expenses under long-term control.

Siemens is systematically upgrading building systems across the city’s portfolio of facilities, replacing dated, inefficient HVAC systems and updating controls with Siemens APOGEE® building automation system. Siemens said its building control technology will provide Merced facility managers with a much greater degree of control to assure the continued energy efficiency of the city’s buildings.

According to Siemens’ Greenhouse Gas calculator, the 3.3 million kWh reduction in electricity consumption reduces annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2,276 metric tons of CO2, equivalent to removing 446 passenger vehicles from the road, consuming some 255,000 fewer gallons of gas.

For more information, visit www.usa.siemens.com/buildingtechnologies.

Publication date: 11/07/2011