Thurston County Activities Related to Climate Change

Capital Improvement Energy Efficiency and Retrofit Program

This page provides an overview of the Capital Improvement Energy Efficiency and Retrofit Program, the first element of Thurston County's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy. This element calls for retrofitting county buildings to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. (Also see the courthouse lighting retrofit project.)

Status

Thurston County has consulted with an Energy Service Company to perform an investment-grade energy audit of selected county buildings and related infrastructure, and to create a "benchmark" (a baseline of data) of Thurston County's existing energy use. This action was funded by the first installment of an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant awarded to Thurston County.

With the second grant installment, Thurston County will retrofit the selected buildings and compare their new energy use with the original benchmark data to gauge the project's success.

The “Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant” program is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and is administered by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Objectives

• Reduce county facility energy costs by 15%.
• Reduce county facility energy use by 25% from 2009 consumption levels.
• Reduce county facility green house gas emissions as determined in emissions reduction goals.
• Reduce costs related to heating and ventilation systems and HVAC maintenance.
• Improve employee production through improved building climate controls.
• Develop a process to continuously improve facility operations.
• Set a standard for the community by creating an office focused on energy efficiency and development of sustainable county facilities.

Contact Us

Interested Parties: If you would like to be added to our Web Mail list, please click here. Staff contact: John Druelinger, Assistant Planner. Phone: 360-754-4109. E-mail: druelij@co.thurston.wa.us.