Federal Reserve Bank of Boston – Michael Lawrence – 2013

Goals

Michael Lawrence, EDF Climate Corps fellow at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, was tasked with both finding energy savings and assisting with forward-thinking sustainability strategy.

Solutions

Lawrence assessed the viability of a solar thermal hot water system to supplement current production in the low-rise section of the Federal Reserve Plaza building. He also performed a plug-load efficiency assessment to determine to what degree the implementation of smart power strips, augmented with occupancy sensors would prove financially beneficial. In addition, Lawrence laid the foundation for an aggregate dashboard to provide a high level view of the Bank’s consumption patterns and the impact of energy efficiency/sustainability measures. As part of a “What’s Next?” strategy, he helped identify “What Else?” opportunities ‘at the margins’ not yet addressed by the Bank’s very progressive energy management team.

Potential Impact

Lawrence has effectively positioned the Bank to move forward with a hybrid solar system after his analytics suggested that such a systel could provide considerable payback and significant savings. His analysis projects a conservative net present value (NPV) of over $100,000 and a meaningful reduction in annual energy consumption.