CONCORD, NH - On Friday May 5, 2017, the Governor's Excellence in Energy Efficiency Awards were issued by Governor Christopher Sununu and presented by Vicki Quiram, Commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services and Myles Matteson, Director of the Governor's Office of Energy and Planning at the State's ninth annual energy conference, which was hosted by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES), the Office of Energy and Planning and the Department of Administrative Services. This conference, which brings together state agency staff involved in energy, transportation and efficiency efforts, serves to celebrate the great work being done in state government to reduce fossil-fuel energy consumption; provide information on other ways to reduce energy use; and enable staff to network with their colleagues in other agencies.

Awards were given to Mark Pezzulo of the New Hampshire Department of Administrative Service; the New Hampshire Hospital, under the Department of Health and Human Services; and Cannon Mountain, under the Department of Resources and Economic Development.

Individual Recognition Awardee, Mark Pezzulo, works as a Maintenance Technician in the Division of Plant and Property Management at the Department of Administrative Services. Pezzulo has the responsibility of caring for highly visible state facilities including the State House. Mr. Pezzulo is always looking for ways to reduce energy use in the facilities he is responsible for. He recently converted a steam powered domestic hot water system to electricity, thus reducing the amount of energy needed to produce the hot water. Pezzulo has also played an important role in several insulation projects for steam delivery systems inside state facilities, reducing the demand for steam in these buildings. These projects and more have resulted in significant savings to the State.

The New Hampshire Hospital was chosen as this year's Model Energy Agency award recipient for their energy efficiency work during recent improvements to its facility. A 10-bed crisis unit opened this past summer and prior to renovations, the Hospital reached out to the Energy Management Office to ensure the addition was as energy efficient as possible. Recently the Hospital was able to replace its aged chillers with two 300-ton energy efficient magnetic-bearing variable frequency drive (VFD) chillers; VFD and high efficiency motors for the chilled water pumps and cooling tower fans; and an energy management system. In less than three months, the new system saved nearly 47,000 kilowatt hours, equivalent to over $5,500 in avoided energy costs.

The final award, the Outstanding Project or Initiative Award, was presented to Cannon Mountain Ski Area & Aerial Tramway for their recent energy savings project. Cannon utilized the energy savings performance contracting (ESPC) model, which is a method available to state agencies for achieving significant energy savings and making improvements to their facilities without using capital dollars. All of the costs of the project are paid through the reduction of energy expenses. Cannon Mountain was able to reduce its energy consumption through improvements in snowmaking, including installing a new booster pump partway up the mountain to enable a more effective and more efficient way of making snow on top of the mountain. These significant energy savings allowed Cannon to include other measures in its project such as much needed maintenance to its underground electric lines. In addition to these upgrades, Cannon was able to improve the efficiency of its lighting throughout the park by converting to LEDs. During the 2016/2017 season, Cannon was able to double its snowmaking while still reducing their electric use by a third.

In the last twelve years, the State avoided over $10.5 million in building energy costs through efficiency measures and through switching to lower-cost fuels. Between Fiscal Year 2005 and Fiscal Year 2016, the square footage of building space used by state government has increased by twelve percent, while overall energy use and the total fossil fuel energy use each decreased by nine percent. This means that the energy used per square foot of building space (i.e., the Energy Use Intensity or "EUI") fell by 21 percent and the fossil-fuel EUI fell by nearly 20 percent. The state has also been actively pursuing reductions in fuel consumption by its vehicle fleet. Since 2009, the state fleet has reduced mileage by approximately eleven percent, which translates to 3.4 million fewer miles. As the State's energy supply is largely derived from fossil fuels which are sourced from outside of NH borders, the avoided fleet and building energy costs represent dollars that were retained within the state's economy and represent a monetary savings to New Hampshire's tax payers.

The conference began with a morning plenary session, which included an overview of how energy is connected to the economy, the environment, and society. The conference also featured workshops on relevant topics, an energy fair where energy efficient technologies and services were displayed, and an LED lightbulb sale for attendees and staff and visitors to NHDES.


Posted 5/8/17