Publisher Takes 10 Percent Challenge
By Shawn Dell Joyce
Times Community Newspapers has committed to take the 10 Percent Challenge, and reduce energy usage by 10 percent (or more) in the coming year. This is no small feat considering the company’s home is a 30-year-old brick colonial-style building that was “never designed for year-round use,” according to editor and publisher Carl Aiello.
The building has been home to the publishing company for five years. Formerly, the publisher inhabited a small building in Walden that was a converted seasonal farm market. Aiello describes it as drafty. “And the pipes, which ran through the attic crawl space, froze at least once every winter,” he says.
The new office houses three publications, archives, and a conference room. The bigger building brought much needed space, but also higher utility costs and overhead. Aiello went through NYSERDA to schedule an energy audit, and was connected to Daylight Savings Company, which handles commercial audits.
The audit was quick, and the findings were fairly typical for commercial buildings. The biggest energy wasters in any building are usually heating and cooling systems, lighting, and insulation. Daylight Savings wrote up an extensive report suggesting that Times Community Newspapers upgrade the outdated HVAC and fluorescent tube lighting system, install some lighting controls, as well as temperature controls, and improve the building’s “envelope” by sealing, caulking, and insulating.
The auditor’s report states that the total cost of improvements would be $14,186, which would deliver an annual savings of $1,820 in utility bills, with an estimated payback time of 7.8 years. A follow-up call to Daylight Savings led to the recommendation that Times Community Newspapers find BPI certified contractors through the website BPI.org. There are two locally: New York State Foam & Energy LLC. of Cornwall and TNT Green Energy Solutions of Balmville.
Aiello invited TNT Green Energy to his building. TNT’s suggestion was to install 6 inches of open-cell spray foam on the slopes of the attic at a cost that far exceeds the original estimate for “improving the building envelope.” When Aiello forwarded the estimate to Daylight Savings, he was told that “at this time, NYSERDA does not offer any incentives through the Existing Facilities Program. However, your upgrade should qualify you for tax credits.”
Like most small business owners, Aeillo weighed the cost effectiveness of this upgrade and decided against it for now. He upgraded the lighting instead. Again, the price was higher than anticipated, but this time it came with an incentive program through Central Hudson.
Alliance Energy Solutions, a Connecticut-based business, replaced all the inefficient T-12 fluorescent lights with L-M4 lights. The fixtures were also outfitted with reflectors, making the rooms brighter, but with a wattage that was reduced from 188 to 49 watts per fixture. He similarly replaced 18 U-shaped lights and 10 of the old incandescent bulbs for an anticipated savings of $2,244 per year for electricity.
The upgrade cost Times Community Newspapers $6,077, but it came with a Central Hudson rebate of $3,767. The remainder is spread among 14 monthly payments of $165, while the reduction on the monthly utility bill is estimated at $187, so Aiello is already saving money.
“Other measures are common sense,” comments Aiello, “like getting people to turn off computers at the end of their workday (there are 18 here) and making sure the last person out the door lowers the thermostat and turns off lights.”
One first-floor thermostat has already been replaced by one with an automatic timer. Aiello is planning to replace the others, and possibly add some motion-activated lights in the stairway, rather than keeping them on all the time. These changes may seem small, but they add up to far more than 10 percent of Times Community Newspaper’s yearly electric usage.
Join the 10 Percent Challenge (visit Sustainable Montgomery’s website and sign on there), and tell how you are planning on saving 10 percent or more on your utility bills and I’ll write about you!
Shawn Dell Joyce is the director of the Wallkill River School of Art in Montgomery, www.WallkillRiverSchool.com
Tags: Shawn Dell Joyce
