For at least the past decade, Lansdowne Borough Council has been planning with energy efficiency in mind. From traffic lights and street lights, to new windows, the Borough has been saving money by investing in energy efficiency. Here are a few details regarding changes council has made.
We got the best savings from installing LED bulbs in all our traffic lights in 2011. When you consider that there are often more than 24 bulbs in each intersection and there are 15 controlled intersections with prior incandescent bulbs of 150 watt capacity on 24 hours a day, you can imagine how much is being saved. Street lights have also been replaced with LED bulbs; it will take just over 11 years to get payback on this investment in 2017. We get renewable electricity from Constellation Energy. New energy efficient windows have been installed in Borough Hall and other buildings as well.
In the present, the Environmental Advisory Committee is looking to work with Borough Council to optimize the heating and cooling system of Borough Hall to be more efficient and to follow occupancy patterns. Currently, the police station requires that utilities be on 24 hours a day; other rooms are being heated and cooled when no one is using them. With proper zoning of the building, a smart thermostat and updating of HVAC systems, it will be possible to conserve. According to an energy assessment conducted on Borough Hall several years ago, “Overall, energy conservation measures will cut electricity use by an estimated 28 percent and reduce natural gas use 26 percent. These measures will also reduce CO2 emissions due to fossil fuel use by more than 101,000 pounds of CO2 per year.”
With all this in mind, we can be very proud of our Borough Council. There is more that we all can do to decrease our energy footprint. Let’s get started.