Town Facilities Benchmarking and GHG Emissions Update Andrea Mott, UNH Sustainability Fellow, Summer 2018 Mentor: Rick Norris, Town of Groton, CT Introduction GHG inventories track the carbon pollution produced by towns. Understanding where greenhouse gas emissions are produced allows targeting reductions and determining their effectiveness. The state of CT has an emission reduction goal of 80% by 2050. The Town of Groton has not formally committed to this goal. Objectives Update the Town of Groton’s energy benchmarking of municipal facilities Create a greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) Inventory Make recommendations for reduction strategies Progress to Date Converted Town-owned streetlights to LEDs Saving 67% energy and emissions (85.8 MTCO2e annually) Switching two schools to natural gas Reduced emissions by 27%, saved $36,217 annually, simple payback of 1.2 and 3.5 years Energy audit of 2013 57% of town-owned building projects completed, including LED conversions, HVAC scheduling, installing occupancy sensors, replacing boilers Installed three electric vehicle (EV) charging stations Member of NEMS Network and Sustainable CT Recommendations Action Plan Goal 1: Reduce energy usage and increase energy efficiency Goal 2: Implement cost-effective renewable energy Goal 3: Invest in electric vehicles to reduce fleet fuel usage Goal 4: Make sustainability resources and knowledge easily available Goal 5: Create a committed municipal team to reach goals GHG Inventory Results 12,326 Methodology Programs Used: EPA’s Portfolio Manager – used for benchmarking building’s energy usage UNH’s SIMAP (Sustainability Indicator Management and Analysis Program) – built for calculating GHG emissions for college campuses Process: generate Town GHG report and identify reduction strategies Data collected: Energy: 68 buildings tracked Town offices, public schools, police/fire stations, parks and rec, streetlights, water pollution control facility (WPCF) Waste from municipality and wastewater treated at WPCF Transportation: fleets and commutes Municipal diesel and gas fleets, school buses, WPCF sludge transportation, and employee commutes Obtain building utility data Enter energy data into Portfolio Manager by building Enter total energy data into SIMAP Generate Town GHG report Obtain waste and transportation data Enter total waste and transportation data into SIMAP Figure 3: Percentage of Groton’s absolute municipal greenhouse gas emissions. When normalized for weather, the reduction is actually 3%. The reduction is due to energy reduction strategies like LEDs and HVAC scheduling. The school fuel oil decreases by 47% due to weather, purchasing additional oil at the end of the fiscal year, or potential recording errors. Produced 12,326 MTCO2e in FY17. (7% absolute reduction from FY14) Goal Task Annual Cost Savings Goal 1 Switch all properties heating to natural gas $ 92,421 Goal 2 Install 1 GW of solar $ 68,000 Invest in 100% Renewables (16.1 GW) $ 1,095,192 Goal 3 Replace 1 gasoline vehicle with EV $ 1,251 Replace all gasoline vehicles with EVs $ 141,668 199 Passenger vehicles driven for one year 324 tons of waste recycled instead of landfilled 100 homes energy usage for a year 1,094 acres of U.S. forests in one year Since FY14, 929 MTCO2e was saved - which is equivalent to: Figure 5 : A savings analysis was completed to determine results of investing in reduction goals. The EV savings are from the difference in gasoline and electricity cost for the miles traveled. The solar savings are from reduced electricity. Further economic analysis is still in process. Town should adopt CT’s goal to reduce GHGs 80% by 2050 (2.13% reduction a year – from FY14 13,254 to FY50 2,937 MTCO2e) Next Steps Commitment from the Town to follow the emission reduction plan Explore financing options like C-PACE, ESPCs, and federal grants Hire an employee to dedicate time solely to tracking energy and identifying savings opportunities Discussion The Town is recommended to seize cost savings opportunities to reduce emissions, especially with the recent budget cuts. The Town is recommended to move beyond short-term paybacks to tackle the long-term problems in regards to reduce GHG emissions. The fellow learned invaluable information about energy policy and GHG emissions, molding a career path in renewable energy and policy. Results -48% Total: 12,326 MTCO2e Figure 4: To reach an 80% reduction goal, additional strategies must be implemented. The combined 48% combines the individual strategies. Figure 1,2: FY17 energy usage by department and emissions by fuel source.