The city and MU have taken efforts to reduce energy costs by implementing energy-efficiency programs.
COLUMBIA — Fixing a leaky faucet or replacing an inefficient light bulb might seem like a minor job to some people, but businesses in Columbia have begun to take these small repairs seriously. With gas prices increasing and the economy remaining in recession, many businesses in Columbia have had to battle rising costs by seeking new ways to save money. Tina Worley, the utilities manager at Columbia Water and Light, said fixing leaky plumbing and using energy-efficient lighting might just be the cost-cutting solutions some businesses need.
“More businesses are beginning to understand that if they spend money to reduce energy use, they will make much more money in savings,” Worley said.
For more than 20 years, Columbia Water and Light has helped businesses achieve high-energy efficiency by educating them; providing rebates on heating and cooling equipment; and providing low-interest loans to increase energy efficiency.
“We have to offer businesses some incentives to become efficient, but they recognize soon enough that efficiency is in the utilities’ and the customers’ best interest,” Worley said.
Columbia Water and Light educates businesses by offering the Building Operators Certification program. The program is a professional development course for operations and maintenance staff working in public, institutional and commercial buildings. It consists of a series of courses on the energy and resource efficient operation of buildings, which provide low- to no-cost methods that improve energy savings.
Worley said she has seen examples of businesses quickly profiting from implementing ideas that they have learned in Columbia Water and Light’s program.
“One employee convinced the factory that he worked at to start using motion sensor lights and other ideas that he had learned in the program,” Worley said. “Since implementing the employee’s ideas, the factory has saved around $20,000 in energy costs.”
Columbia Water and Light is happy to offer the programs because it also benefits from businesses reducing energy use. Many commercial and industrial customers tend to use the most power during the day and a lot less at night. Electric use is at its highest in the summer when air conditioners run up demand. These variations in demand create peaks and valleys in Columbia’s system load. Working with businesses to use less power at high-demand times allows Columbia Water and Light to reduce demand and spread energy out evenly throughout the day. This means it can operate its system more efficiently and pass on cost savings to business.
“Every year we have to exceed our energy limit and buy directly from the market,” Worley said. “The cost can be very expensive.”
Columbia businesses have not been the only ones to benefit from energy efficiency. Phil Shocklee, the director of campus facilities at MU, said the campus has reduced its energy costs by $4 million a year by upgrading interior and exterior lighting to high-efficiency bulbs and installing motion sensors to turn off lights and lower thermostats when spaces are unoccupied.
Despite the fact that campus building space has grown by 60 percent since 1990, energy use has been reduced by 19 percent per square foot campuswide.
Shocklee said there have been many environmental benefits of the efforts to become more efficient. Based on EPA data, the campus’s corresponding reduction of CO-2 emissions is equivalent to the removal of 16,700 cars from our roadways or the planting of 26,000 acres of trees.
Shocklee said the campus is also reducing energy use by using alternative fuels to operate equipment.
“We are using a biodiesel blend of fuel in our equipment where applicable at no additional cost,” Shocklee said. “This fuel burns cleaner than pure diesel fuel and helps the local economy.”
MU has also sought ways outside of its buildings to reduce energy use. MU requires that 70 percent of vehicles purchased must be Alternative Fuel Vehicles, which use fuel alternatives such as ethanol and biodiesel. MU also plants around 200 trees annually on the MU campus. MU recently earned recognition by receiving the Energy Efficiency award following the National Wildlife Federation’s national competition, Chill Out: Campus Solutions to Global Warming. Shocklee said MU will continue to educate and encourage students, faculty and staff on energy conservation through advertisements and presentations.
“MU has taken a leadership role for many years in reducing energy use on campus with significant results,” Shocklee said.
