City of Palo Alto – Hassaan Sipra – 2015

Goals

When the City of Palo Alto signed onto the EDF Climate Corps program, its main goal was for fellow Hassaan Sipra to conduct data analysis on the City’s portfolio of buildings and prioritize key facilities for further assessment. Once facilities were assessed, he was to prioritize recommendations for resource efficiency based on payback periods.

Solutions

While the overall goals of the project were clear, there were several data inconsistencies and gaps that needed to be rectified prior to implementation of any resource efficiency recommendations. Furthermore, Sipra identified procedural gaps over the course of this assessment and brought them to the attention of the City of Palo Alto. Sipra identified four large parking garages that were due for lighting retrofits. A 25 percent server virtualization was also identified, along with temperature readjustments to the Civic Center Data Center. Sipra also assessed city fire stations and recommended tighter temperature controls with scheduling for them. Furthermore, Sipra advised the City on how to proceed with energy efficiency projects in the future, including how to mitigate communications gaps between various departments, establish clear energy reduction targets and establish baselines for equipment, monitoring and evaluation for implemented projects.

Potential Impact

While the potential savings identified for the City were modest, approximately 700,000 kilowatt hours annually, Sipra’s project addressed the need for procedural changes within the organization to maintain a successful energy efficiency program. The City of Palo Alto’s efforts towards energy conservation for its residents is well established, and Sipra’s report and presentation helped establish a narrative for better inter-departmental communication and enhanced documentation of energy efficiency projects that could have a long-lasting impact.