ORANGE : City ‘Energy Retrofit’ Gets Initial Approval

The City Council has tentatively agreed to an “energy retrofit” to all city buildings and parks where officials are sure the resulting savings would be more than sufficient to recover the costs.

The council voted Tuesday to hire a Sacramento-based engineering firm to conduct an audit of the city’s mechanical and lighting systems.

Officials at the firm, Aircon Energy Services Inc., estimate that the entire retrofit would cost about $700,000. But the deal includes a guarantee of annual savings of $160,000 in energy costs, enough to pay the seven-year debt service and leave about $13,000 in profit to the city, said Gary Wann, director of community services.

Gabe Garcia, the department’s manager, said that some air conditioners in city buildings are 35 years old and that maintenance consists largely of “holding the systems together with Band-Aids.”

Council members agreed only to the preliminary engineering audit to determine precisely what systems need replacing. If they decide not to go forward with the project, the city will have to pay $40,000 for the audit, Wann said.

Wann said his department has been considering the project since it merged with the General Services Department in 1993.

“Our first task was to recognize the enormity of the problem, which I believe we have done,” Wann said. While the deal would involve some risks, he said, Aircon would guarantee savings and make up any shortfalls.

The city’s energy costs run about $800,000 a year for 26 buildings and 10 parks.