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The City of Taylor, Texas, is addressing deferred maintenance projects and making facility modifications as part of an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) with Siemens. Located almost 29 miles northeast of Austin, Taylor has grown steadily in residential and retail population since 2010. The ESPC will allow the city to make such infrastructure improvements as LED lighting and HVAC system adjustments within its existing budget, and will use the more than $1 million of projected energy savings to fund upgrades over the next 15 years.
“This project means a great deal to our city,” Assistant City Manager for Taylor, Noel Bernal said. “We’re addressing some overdue maintenance and upgrading our facilities. Most importantly, we’re able to make these improvements with minimal impact to our existing budget. As our partner, Siemens is committed and has a proven track-record in energy savings performance, helping us to address our maintenance needs while remaining fiscally prudent.”
The initial project phase involves Siemens making energy-efficient changes such as retrofitting lighting with LED bulbs and assessing various aging HVAC systems in 17 buildings throughout the city, including the library, city hall and the municipal court. Select aging HVAC systems will be upgraded, while other existing units will be cleaned and recommissioned to extend their useful life. Work on the project is expected to be completed by this summer, with Taylor’s guaranteed energy savings beginning in the fall.
“Performance contracting is a proven and cost-effective way for cities to address expensive maintenance and municipal improvements, without extensive impact to the city’s budget,” President of Siemens’ North American-based Building Technologies DivisionDave Hopping, said. “These upgrades will help Taylor achieve significant energy savings and support continued growth.”
Siemens has reported that customers realize more than $2 billion in energy and operational savings over the past 10 years. The company has implemented more than 1,000 guaranteed performance contract projects for its customers, updating thousands of buildings with the latest energy savings technologies. Its energy services and solutions range from energy savings analysis, to implementation of facility improvement measures, to ongoing monitoring and verification.
