Efficiency Audits Make Buildings More Sustainable

The challenge

Veolia’s energy consulting group, SourceOne, was selected to conduct energy-efficiency projects in select buildings across Greater New York City. Services included operational audits in NYC and Westchester County for small facilities and public institutions that are supported by one of 18 generating facilities and 1,400 circuit miles of transition lines.

The client’s challenges are:

• New York State wanted to decrease electricity use by 15 percent and increase renewable generation by 30 percent by 2015.
• Facilities contributing to that volume include highly populated landmarks such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY Public Library and the Bronx Zoo.

Veolia’s solution

Innovative energy efficiency approaches:

• Steam repairs, chiller replacements, air-handler commissioning, metering improvements and more resourceful lighting were some of the most notable recommendations
• The group also called for the installation of cooling towers and steam distribution
• Systems to control air temperature more effectively at sites like Grand Central Terminal

Client targets:

• In order to meet goals, officials sought to examine types of spaces to identify pragmatic ways to reduce energy output and avoid hundreds of thousands of tons of greenhouse gases (GHG) per year.

The benefits for our client

Positive additional results:

• These conservation programs made New York State not just a champion of clean energy, but a leader in savings to the taxpayer.
• It has since undertaken efficiency projects at more than 3,900 facilities statewide, working with SourceOne to save citizens an average of $6 million annually and avoid the equivalent of 2.5 million barrels of oil per year.