Sustainability: Leon County, Fla.
The facilities management department wanted to provide county residents with an educational tool for sustainable technology practices. The maintenance staff retrofitted an inefficient 50-year old building with state-of-the-art technology in demonstration of sustainable practices. Sustainability programs have supplied a considerable amount of the required water used to irrigate an on-site botanical garden, cooling via groundwater-sourced HVAC systems, and a majority of the facility's own energy needs through installation of solar PV panels. To further reduce electricity demand, part of the existing building's HVAC system was replaced by a closed-loop geothermal HVAC system, which has reduced annual electricity use by about 3,000 kilowatt-hours.
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