Honeywell helps CT town improve facilities, cut costs
The Connecticut town of Tolland will be saving nearly $600,000 a year in utility and operating expenses thanks to Honeywell. The company assisted the town with retrofit and revitalization projects. The savings from the project will be used to make energy-efficient upgrades across multiple municipal buildings and four public schools.
Tolland will finance a portion of the building improvements with a 20-year, $10-million performance contract with Honeywell. As a result, the town can pay for most of the work with the annual cost savings, guaranteed by Honeywell, rather than drawing from additional public resources. The town also plans to supplement the investment with an estimated $350,000 in incentives from Connecticut Light & Power.
Among the improvements is the installation of geothermal technology at Tolland Middle School and Intermediate School. This renewable resource will help enable the schools to manage comfort by tapping into the stable temperatures below the earth’s surface — to provide heat in the winter months and cool the facilities in summer.
“Public entities often need support making upgrades or they’ll continue deferring projects year after year, and the backlog and needed capital grow,” said Paul Orzeske, president of Honeywell Building Solutions. “Energy savings performance contracts are vital because they allow municipalities like Tolland to improve facilities in a way that benefits the town and its taxpayers.”
The project includes a variety of enhancements, including a new building automation system that will help enable facility operators to manage building systems in all four schools, such as HVAC, from a centralized location.
The town also updated lighting controls and installed energy efficient lighting. Upgraded HVAC mechanical systems were installed, including new high-efficiency boilers.
In addition to saving money, the facility upgrades are expected to reduce Tolland’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2,585 metric tons — equivalent to removing 570 vehicles from the road. Honeywell will start construction this month and plans to complete the improvements by the end of 2014.
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