Schenectady Energy Advisory Board Schenectady Energy Advisory Board Recommendations Carbon Emissions Analysis briefing July 21, 2008 Dana Swalla, Ph.D.

Schenectady Energy Advisory Board 2 Acknowledgements Energy Advisory Board Members: Frank Maurizio Stephen Boese Mark DeChiro – Vice Chair Jeff Edwards Jeff Corbin Dana Swalla - Chair Andy Shapiro Sharon Jordan Ismat Alam Carl Olsen Bernie Sisson John Collucio Administration Staff: Union College Faculty/students: Jeff Corbin – Faculty Sarah Conner Robert Eastman Steve PoChedley National Grid: Pat Boudreau

Schenectady Energy Advisory Board 3 Outline Background City Municipal Operations –Water –Vehicle Fleet –Buildings and other operations City of Schenectady buildings data (National Grid) vs. Municipal Operations Conclusions and Future Work

Schenectady Energy Advisory Board 4 Background Industrial Revolution begins See References at end of presentation Industrial processes, burning of fossil fuels, and changes in land use releases gases into the atmosphere that create a “greenhouse” effect at a rate much faster than “natural” processes Recent increases in global average temperature are much higher than “normal” fluctuations. …and excess energy use costs $$

Schenectady Energy Advisory Board 5 Background Carbon Emissions are reported in units of metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO 2 e). This unit allows comparison between emissions of different greenhouse gases of varying global warming potential to be added together. –Example: 10 kwh * 0.86 lbs CO 2 e/kwh = 8.6 lbs CO 2 e 10 therms * lbs CO 2 e/therm = CO 2 e 1 metric tonne = short tons = 2205 lbs  1.1 *  440 * Recommendations were developed after completing a Carbon Emissions analysis for all City Municipal operations and City residential, commercial, and industrial buildings.

Schenectady Energy Advisory Board 6 Background How much is used (gas, CO2, $$ on 100 mile trip?? 10 mpg  15 mpg vehicle saves 3 gals gas and $15 every 100 miles driven 25 mpg  35 mpg vehicle saves about 1 gal gas and $5 every 100 miles driven.

Schenectady Energy Advisory Board 7 City Municipal Operations Combined City Municipal Operations Emissions from all sources = 9283 tonnes Municipal Operations Recommendations: General: Initiate and maintain procedures that allow convenient tracking and analysis of carbon emissions across all sectors. Buildings Sector City owned buildings undergoing major renovations or new construction must meet LEED or equivalent standards. Complete Siemens performance contract building upgrades and continue to document energy savings. Encourage energy service providers to submit all billing electronically to allow for easier energy usage tracking (i.e. carbon footprint analysis), as well as reduce paper waste and costs associated with paper billing storage. Work with Union College to calculate and track emissions from buildings annually using electronic data. Water Develop a strategy to conserve water in order to save energy, control infrastructure costs and preserve flexibility for future water supplies and needs tonnes 2315 tonnes 3122 tonnes * 10,000 * 4 Million

Schenectady Energy Advisory Board 8 Vehicle Fleet Vehicle Fleet Sector Initiate vehicle purchase policy for all city departments that encourages use of higher gas mileage/lower emissions vehicles Install devices to lower particulates on selected vehicles Encourage vehicle sharing between departments, when feasible Calculate and track emissions from vehicle fleet annually.

Schenectady Energy Advisory Board 9 Street lights and Traffic Signals Sector Work with National Grid to encourage development of more energy efficient street lights. Complete work on LED Traffic light replacement and work with National Grid, Siemens, and city departments to fully capture energy savings that have resulted from traffic light replacement. Transportation Recommendation New road development projects will make provisions for bicycle and pedestrian traffic, including the new Erie Boulevard corridor project. Planning commission should encourage installation of bike racks in all new developments and major renovation projects Install bike racks in areas of commerce and recreation. Work with Union College students to formulate a traffic usage summary to estimate carbon footprint of vehicle traffic in Schenectady. Recommendations (City Municipal Operations) Note: Solid waste/trash collection and recycling not considered in this study… However, City saved about $60-$85K in tipping fees, alone (not counting cost of transport to landfill) and reduced collection by 3% or 1000 tons after initiation of garbage “equity” (aka garbage “fees” depending on # of units)

Schenectady Energy Advisory Board 10 City Municipal Operations 29 Kwh (electricity) = Heating value of 1 Therm 29 kwh * 0.86 lbs CO 2 /kwh = 25 lbs CO2 1 Therm * lbs CO 2 /therm = lbs CO2 ….Heating a building with Natural Gas is currently more efficient and results in less CO2 than heating with electric. However, this may change as grid electric moves to more renewable energy sources… 7% 11¢/kwh = approx $98,000 in savings (electric)

Schenectady Energy Advisory Board 11 Results of Siemens Performance Contract Net decrease from 2005: 170 metric tons % decrease from 2005  4% Target by 2012: Net 7% Note: Analyses only for municipal operations & bldgs measured by Siemens

Schenectady Energy Advisory Board 12 City of Schenectady Building Emissions vs Municipal Operations Community outreach recommendations Work with the Energy Advisory Board to develop the following:  Annual Energy Fair hosting local “green” businesses and teaching best practices.  Collaboration with local grade schools (ie school forum, science fairs, information booklets to bring home)  Neighborhood Association presentations  Development of residential “Eco-Teams” similar to Burlington, VT Set up EAB website available through a link from the main City website to track progress and inform the public of ongoing initiatives, meetings, and minutes Emissions from non-municipal sources >>> than City operations …. About 6 tons per capita just for heating and cooling homes and businesses! 377,000 tonnes

Schenectady Energy Advisory Board 13 Conclusions & Future Work Siemens Performance Contract has resulted in improved energy savings. We have more work to do to reach goal of 7% reduction in emissions by Major focus areas Water pumping costs and conservation. Develop a strategy to conserve water in order to save energy, control infrastructure costs and preserve flexibility for future water supplies and needs. City Vehicle Fleet Improve mileage or limit use of lowest mileage cars/vehicles whenever possible

Schenectady Energy Advisory Board 14 References Carbon emissions calculation and emissions factors Inventory of New York City Greenhouse Gas Emissions, April 2007 Global Average Temperature plot 1.(dark blue ): P.D. Jones, K.R. Briffa, T.P. Barnett, and S.F.B. Tett (1998)., The Holocene, 8: (blue ): M.E. Mann, R.S. Bradley, and M.K. Hughes (1999)., Geophysical Research Letters, 26(6: (light blue ): Crowley and Lowery (2000)., Ambio, 29: Modified as published in Crowley (2000)., Science, 289: (lightest blue ): K.R. Briffa, T.J. Osborn, F.H. Schweingruber, I.C. Harris, P.D. Jones, S.G. Shiyatov, S.G. and E.A. Vaganov (2001)., J. Geophys. Res., 106: (light green ): J. Esper, E.R. Cook, and F.H. Schweingruber (2002)., Science, 295(5563: (yellow ): M.E. Mann and P.D. Jones (2003)., Geophysical Research Letters, 30(15: DOI: /2003GL DOI /2003GL (orange ): P.D. Jones and M.E. Mann (2004)., Reviews of Geophysics, 42: RG2002. DOI: /2003RG000143DOI /2003RG (red-orange ): S. Huang (2004)., Geophys. Res Lett., 31: L DOI: /2004GL019781DOI /2004GL (red ): A. Moberg, D.M. Sonechkin, K. Holmgren, N.M. Datsenko and W. Karlén (2005)., Nature, 443: DOI: /nature03265DOI /nature (dark red ): J.H. Oerlemans (2005)., Science, 308: DOI: /science DOI /science (black ): Instrumental data was jointly compiled by the w:Climatic Research Unit and the UK Meteorological Office Hadley Centre. Global Annual Average data set TaveGL2v [2] was used.w:Climatic Research UnitUK Meteorological OfficeHadley Centre [2] Documentation for the most recent update of the CRU/Hadley instrumental data set appears in: P.D. Jones and A. Moberg (2003)., Journal of Climate, 16: