Sustainable Jersey – Nakul Prabhakar Sangolli – 2022
Goals
Sustainable Jersey (SJ) certifies schools and local governments in the State of New Jersey as Bronze, Silver, and Gold based on points accumulated for sustainability actions. These actions include Community Partnership and Outreach, Climate Planning, Waste Management, Energy Efficiency, Energy Transition, etc. This summer, each of the six SJ fellows assisted three/four townships and schools in tackling energy efficiency, energy transition and fleet electrification, resulting in reduced GHG and increased cost savings.
Solutions
- Measure Energy Consumption: Nakul collected and measured electric, gas, and fuel oil consumption by buildings in Howell, Manchester, and Little Silver townships. Based on the average monthly peak demand, he applied for Energy Efficiency Incentive Programs on the township’s behalf. For Howell and Manchester Townships, he analyzed their Fleet Inventory to provide recommendations on the vehicles that can be replaced with EV counterparts.
- Setup Energy Tracking: Nakul set up Energy Star Portfolio Manager accounts to track the building energy consumption for all the township facilities. This system will not only help them track energy consumption on an ongoing basis but also track energy saved over time after energy conversation measures are implemented.
- Ensured Audits to Capture Savings: Nakul scheduled Engineering Audits and walk-throughs for the townships so that Contractors could measure the potential energy savings and payback period for investment.
Potential Impact
Energy Efficiency projects were identified that could result in potential savings of 486,000kWh (offsetting 486 metric tons of CO2 emissions eq) in electrical energy consumption across the three townships. In Little Silver alone, there is an opportunity to save upwards of $33,000 in avoided servicing and maintenance of old boilers and chillers.
Fleet Inventory Analysis identified potential savings of $176,000 in the annual cost of ownership by transitioning to EV vehicles for Howell and Manchester Townships. Townships can reduce their municipal carbon footprint through these measures and bring about cost savings.
