New Energy Efficient Technologies and Financing Opportunities
Presented by Regional Experts
Clark County Commissioner Justin Jones (Dist. F) is the keynote speaker at the “Saving Energy and Money in Government and Commercial Buildings and Fleets” event to be held online Wednesday June 9, 2021, from 2:00-3:30 p.m. (PST).
“I’m proud that Clark County’s Department of Environment and Sustainability is leading an effort to identify innovative ways to reduce carbon dioxide and other emissions while saving taxpayers money,” said Jones. “‘All-In Clark County,’ our Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, will play an important role in state, regional, and national efforts to lower energy costs, create good-paying green jobs, and diversify our economy. This event brings several local government agencies together with the private sector to search for solutions to the challenges we face. I believe this will lead to more rapid deployment of clean energy technologies and job creation.”
“We’re honored to have Commissioner Jones share his thoughts on the need to accelerate the adoption of cost-effective carbon reducing technologies,” said Carolyn “Lina” Tanner, an Environmental and Natural Resources attorney moderating the forum. “Commissioner Jones is one of Nevada’s foremost leaders advocating for sustainable economic development.”
Jones, elected to the Clark County Commission in 2018, previously served in the Nevada State Senate where he worked on important conservation issues including improving energy performance contracting standards in public buildings and protection of Red Rock Canyon. Since joining the County Commission, Commissioner Jones has championed mitigating climate change while fostering economic development and increasing access to community parks, trails, and natural spaces.
One of the new energy technologies presented at the event is next generation LED (Light Emitting Diode) lighting, which cost-effectively reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Kale Flagg, CEO of Energy Optimization Services (EOS), a Nevada-based company headquartered in Reno, says that installing state-of-the-art, hyper-low-energy LED lighting and controls can save businesses and/or governments 50-90% on the lighting portion of their electric bill.
“This is great news for both Nevada’s environment and economy,” says Flagg. “Savings through more efficient lighting technology brighten the bottom line of commercial building owners and operators. Schools and other public buildings can also have lower operating costs, using tax dollars for essential services instead of inefficient lighting.”
“If you see a fluorescent tube in your office, school, or other building, you’re seeing a waste of energy and money and unneeded emissions of greenhouse gases,” Flagg explains. “We can upgrade these buildings’ lighting to state-of-the-art LEDs—in most cases without the need for any out-of-pocket funding by the business or government entity. Upgrades and retrofits can be paid off from the savings on energy bills, customarily in under two-and-a-half years. The building owner or operator is aiding the environment and concurrently putting money into their pocket from Day One; the energy costs reductions (i.e., the savings) are greater than the cost of financing the projects.”
Innovative heating and cooling solutions that reduce greenhouse gases while saving building owners and operators money will be explained by Cary Smith of the GreyEdge Group, an design/engineering group which has completed several projects in Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. The GreyEdge Group use heat pumps that move “recycled thermal energy” from where it’s not needed to where it’s useful.
For example, by using the heat discharged by air-conditioning systems in commercial buildings to heat water needed for laundry or other uses, cost-savings and emissions reductions are enormous and can eliminate the need for the combustion of fossil fuels. “It’s much more economical to move heat than it is to produce it or to discharge it from where it’s not wanted,” said Smith. “Using our unique “Thermal Highway” concept, the cost to heat and cool government or commercial buildings can be significantly reduced while achieving substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.”
The event’s concluding speaker is Rick Gibson, Senior Investor Partner of Sustainability Partners, a business that funds energy, infrastructure, and transportation improvements, known as “Infrastructure as-a-Utility Service”. In their model, Sustainability Partners makes the capital investment to pay for the upgrading and maintenance of buildings and government fleets with the latest energy saving technologies; it then charges a monthly use fee that typically saves government agencies money on their operating costs—while creating jobs and reducing emissions through the upgrades.
Gibson will highlight the example of the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation being able to upgrade its entire fleet with zero-emission electric vehicles, charging stations and infrastructure, through their contract with Sustainability Partners, saving the DOT an average of $900/year per vehicle in fuel costs and 75% in vehicle maintenance costs over their lifespan.
This free event is organized by Nv|EfX, Nevada Energy Forums and Exhibitions, EOS, GreyEdge Group, Sustainability Partners, and supported by ReEnergize Reno, All In Clark County, the Washoe County Air Quality District, the Northern Nevada Facility Management Association (NNFMA), the Sierra Nevada Ally, 1 Sun Solar, the Western States Hydrogen Alliance, the Tanner Law & Strategy Group, Steven T. Polikalas, Ltd., East Shore Communications, Inc., Nevada Industry Excellence, and the Nevada Professional Facility Managers Association (NPFMA).
Registration is available at GoToWebinar online at https://bit.ly/3wMGB9E . For more information on this or future Nv|EfX events, please contact Tom Polikalas at 775-386-7411 or [email protected].
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