Energy-smart retrofitting

Gary Neptune knows a good deal when he sees one, and he’s seeing one every month when he looks at his utility bill.

Neptune owns Neptune Mountaineering in Boulder. Since its opening in 1973, Neptune’s store has become known for its wide range of climbing and ski gear, as well as the vintage gear he collects.

None of his customers likely understands how much Neptune is saving on electricity since his landlord, W.W. Reynolds Cos., upgraded his shopping center’s lighting system, but it is the kind of money that will help the lights stay on for a long time.

“We’re saving about 25 to 30 percent every month on our bill,” Neptune said. “That’s like 350 to 475 bucks a month on our bill, and that’s good deal.”

Making it even better, he added, was the fact that W.W. Reynolds picked up the bill.

The company, one of the largest owners of commercial real estate in Boulder County, upgraded the lighting systems of all the units in its 1 million-square-foot portfolio, said Aaron Schlagel, asset manager for W.W. Reynolds. It took 60 projects to make the upgrades, with the most common change replacing T12 fluorescent lights with more efficient T8s.

W.W. Reynolds paid for the conversions, as well as upgrades to HVAC systems, although most of the immediate benefits will go to its tenants.

“We believe it is right for the community, right for our tenants, and it makes our built environment better,” Schlagel said.

W.W. Reynolds defrayed about 75 percent of the cost of the upgrade by claiming rebates offered by EnergySmart, a joint venture of Xcel Energy Inc., Boulder County and the cities of Boulder and Longmont.

EnergySmart started offering rebates to upgrade commercial properties in spring 2010, and since then has disbursed $1.22 million in rebates to 500 unique businesses for upgrades, according to data from EnergySmart. Rebates have been issued for more than 730 projects, which combined to cost about $5.75 million.

The improvements could reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by 8,800 metric tons, according to EnergySmart.

Money for rebates for the commercial building upgrades has run out, but EnergySmart hopes to revive the program if Boulder’s Climate Action Plan tax is approved and new funding sources can be found, said Bill Hayes, one of the program’s administrators.

EnergySmart advisers will remain available to help business owners improve their companies’ energy efficiency and locate other rebates, Hayes said.

EnergySmart is not the only source of energy-reduction incentives for businesses. Xcel Energy offers a slate of services that includes energy audits and demand-management programs.

They generally fall into three categories, said Shawn White, manager of energy-efficiency marketing.

One category is financial support to cut the cost of studies and audits up to 75 percent. The program ranges from on-site visits to small businesses to comprehensive studies of large commercial buildings and data centers.

Xcel Energy also will work to develop custom rebate programs, in addition to a range of efficiency rebates available to people for buying better heating, cooling and lighting equipment.

White said he was unable to break out the numbers for the Boulder market, but said rebate and incentive programs in Colorado cut energy use by 311 million kilowatt hours in 2011. In all the states Xcel Energy serves, the programs kept 610,000 tons of carbon out of the atmosphere last year, with 36 percent of that reduction coming from Colorado.

Like EnergySmart, the most popular Xcel Energy program is lighting-system retrofits, White said.

The reason for their popularity, Wiener said, is because they are the “low-hanging fruit.” The changes are easy to make, she said, and lighting contributes a major share of most companies’ utility bills. The cost comes from keeping the lights on and cooling the building to offset the heat they generate.

The rebates were an important factor in W.W. Reynolds’ decision, said Schlagel, adding that he thinks they will help other landlords make the switch.

“At the end of the day, it needs to make financial sense,” Schlagel said. “Otherwise important changes like this won’t happen.”

The benefits show up not only on the electric bill but also in the quality of the light.

Eetrex Inc. has seen about a 6 percent to 7 percent decrease in its electric bill since the lighting was redone in its 12,500-square foot office, according to Kathryn Miles, vice president for business development.

The new lights have not caused any problems for the employees.

“It’s probably the same quality or better,” Miles said.

W.W. Reynolds worked with Summit Lighting to do the lighting retrofits. That involved removing the ballasts for the T12 fluorescent lights and replacing them with new ballasts and reflectors for T8 lights.

The work is simple enough that all the fixtures in many offices can be upgraded in an afternoon during regular business hours, Summit Lighting owner Brian Trapp said.

“It takes our guys about 15 minutes,” Trapp said. “They get it done, and it’s all back to normal. We close ‘em up, and then we clean ‘em up.”

The process was painless, according to Neptune.

“That really was a pleasant surprise,” he said, “because not all contractors are that way.”

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