March–April 1999 Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

1500 Days: the Central

Ohio Energy Efficiency

Project has hit its stride and is

poised to run circles around its

original goal to retrofit 3 million

square feet in just over four

years. The man at the helm of

the partnership,Glen Kizer,

president of the Foundation for

Environmental Education,has

everything to do with the partnership’s impressive show

of progress.

“We said we’d do 3 million square feet in 1500 days,”

said Kizer,an environmental lawyer and former division

chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources

(DNR). That schedule would have the work completed

by fall 2000. “We’re over it. We have about 1.9 million

square feet in retrofit now,plus 1.5 million square feet

already completed. We’ve now revised our long-term

retrofit goal to 30 million square feet.”

The partnership originally set out to do retrofit projects

in central Ohio that involved restaurant and theater

chains,a school system,a college and a prison. Many of

these projects have since added a solar dimension.Kizer

began doing energy efficiency projects at schools with

Rebuild America at about the same time his Foundation

began building a Solar Ohio Project.The blending of

energy-efficiency and solar solutions has taken 1500 Days

partnership and the Ohio Solar Project in some new and

interesting directions.

Continued on page 2 

DOE/EE-0183

The 1999 Rebuild America National

Forum will be held August 9-11 at the

MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. The

Forum is the showcase event for Rebuild

America partnerships across the country

that have been working hard to improve

energy efficiency in their communities.

Over 200 partnerships in 47 states,three

territories,and in three Native American

tribes are invited to share their

experiences,gain recognition for their

achievements,and learn from each other

and outside experts about how best to

mobilize their communities toward

stronger,cleaner futures.

The National Forum comes at a critical

time for Las Vegas,our host city,and

Nevada,the fastest growing state in the

nation today. Nevada is facing the

challenge of meeting the energy

demands of an expanding population.

Rebuild America partnerships are

springing up in many Nevada

communities that are increasingly

concerned that the demand for energy 

is outpacing supply. Nevada Power

Company,the Nevada State Energy

Office and partnerships in Las Vegas,

Reno,Henderson,Carson City and

Fallon,NV are leading the charge to find

workable energy solutions for Nevada.

Nevada Power is a champion for the

Rebuild America program and the key

sponsor of this year’s forum.

This year’s Forum will focus on

community partnership development,

successful implementation of

community-wide energy and

environmental initiatives,financing

energy efficiency projects,and

community sustainability into the next

century and beyond. Sessions will be as

diverse and innovative as the Rebuild

America partnerships they represent and

will feature the challenges faced in

launching energy-efficiency retrofits in

the small business,large commercial,K12 schools,colleges and universities,

public and affordable housing,and state

and local government building sectors.

An exciting combination of peer

presentations,brainstorming sessions,

hands-on consultation with experts,outof-the-ordinary plenary and luncheon

speakers,and demonstrations of the

latest energy-efficient technologies and

products add up to an event you won’t

want to miss.

Registration packets will be mailed in

May and conference information can be

found on our website:

www.eren.doe.gov/buildings/rebuild.

Nevada Partnerships

Welcome National Forum

Glen Kizer

Regional News

UMB Reaches Out

Going Solar

Back to School

in West Haven

Utah Campus Invests $31 m

Roanoke-Chowan

Targets Businesses
View from DC

By Mark Bailey

Spring is the season of renewal,an appropriate

symbol for Rebuild America partnerships whose

mission is to give new life to the nation’s

inefficient buildings. Many partnerships are

launching their first energy retrofit projects after

concerted efforts to mobilize the resources

needed to build and fortify their partnerships. As

the Rebuild America program matures,it is

incumbent upon us to track its progress. This

means collecting and calculating accurate data

about each partnership’s activity:

■ square feet retrofitted

■ projected investment in retrofitting

■ annual and cumulative energy savings 

■ annual and cumulative energy dollars

saved

■ annual and cumulative emissions

reductions (SOx,NOx,CO2,etc.)

I urge Rebuild America partnerships to visit

the “Progress”section of the IMS. Partnerships

are now able to feed their results directly into

the IMS system. This puts cumulative program

results at the fingertips of national program and

individual partnership representatives.

The Benefits of Reporting

You may ask,“Why should I bother to report

my partnership’s activity? What difference does

it make?”Or perhaps,“How does reporting help

my partnership?”

Reporting on the IMS gives your partnership

firm numbers to provide to community leaders

and program partners,which helps elevate the

stature of your partnership in your community.

It helps make the case for energy efficiency in

your community – to your elected

representatives,business leaders,building

owners,school districts,municipal governments,

potential partners and the media. The more

aware your community is of your partnership’s

progress,the more likely you are to draw 

Continued on page 4 

Share Your Success

Rebuild America Partner Update, the 

bimonthly newsletter about the Rebuild 

America community, covers partnership 

activities, industry trends, and 

program news.

Learn More

Rebuild America is part of DOE’s Buildings 

for the 21st Century. If you would like 

information about Rebuild America or the 

other energy efficiency and renewable energy 

programs and resources, call 1-800-DOE-EREC 

or visit www.eren.doe.gov.

To be placed on the mailing list for Rebuild

America Partner Update, e-mail

rebuildamerica@drintl.com.

To submit news or story ideas, contact: 

• Jonathan T. Alloy, (202) 466-7391, or e-mail 

jalloy@pcgpr.com.

• Rebecca Penovich, (301) 588-9387, or e-mail 

beckyp@drintl.com.

2

“Once we began educating schools about energy efficiency,they had the insight

into their buildings to understand the importance of solar,”he said. “The reverse 

was also true. Once schools understood solar strategies,they wanted to explore

energy-efficiency improvements. The two are a natural fit. Now these same schools

want alternative fuel buses and wind power and solar panels for their classrooms.

Once you open the door to the future a little bit,your targets will demand you swing

the door wide open.”

Kizer was instrumental in getting Bluffsview Elementary School,which underwent

an energy retrofit,to install a photovoltaic (PV) roof. (See Workbench,this issue.) He

also raised the project’s profile by working with the media. The project drew strong

interest from the academic community and current plans call for completing 20 PV

rooftop projects in Ohio schools this year as part of the Clinton Administration’s

Million Solar Roofs initiative.

1500 Days is working with Ohio University on plans for a $15 million retrofit of

campus buildings. The scope of work may include the installation of a solar panel

outside of the basketball arena,which dovetails nicely with what the partnership set

out to do. And that is to choose high-visibility projects that people can see,

understand and talk about. The partnership is also involved in the retrofit of three

popular restaurants in the expanding Bravo Restaurant chain.

“We’re on their team and we’re helping them plan more efficient buildings,”Kizer

said. “Some will be new buildings and some will be moves into existing buildings.

They’re talking about solar as well.”

Another 1500 Days initiative is aimed at reducing energy usage in AMC Theatres and

in major art facilities throughout the country. AMC is running public service

announcements on television in Ohio with a message of commitment to saving

energy and to increasing the comfort of its patrons by using sophisticated

Continued on page 11 

Profile

Continued from page 1
Regional News

With the expansion of the Rebuild America newsletter, we have

added a new feature focusing on the activities and events of

DOE’s regional support offices. We will rotate coverage of specific

regions in each issue.

Mid-Atlantic Region

The energyNOW conference,hosted by DOE’s Philadelphia

Regional Support Office January 6-8,drew nearly 200 people

from the mid-Atlantic region. The three-day event focused on the

opportunities in efficiency and cost savings afforded by the current

deregulatory environment. Representing Rebuild America were

National Program Manager Mark Bailey,who moderated the

Community Energy Project Partnerships session;Rebuild America

Program Representative Kirk Bond,who presented an overview

of Rebuild America;and Mayor Fred Sissine of the City of Mount

Rainier (MD) partnership,who discussed renovating the City’s

police station with the assistance of Rebuild America.energyNOW

was co-sponsored by the U.S.General Services Administration and

Washington Gas.

Southeast Region

Rebuild America Makes Prime Time...In February,Rebuild

America was the focus of a live one-hour television program on the

North Carolina Public Broadcast System and 200 other cable

stations nationwide. The panel of guests on the February 18

program included Charles Young,Rebuild America program

representative;Cynthia Moseley,Rebuild America program

representative from the North Carolina Department of Commerce;

Ted Alexander,executive director of the Uptown Shelby

Association (Rebuild Shelby) and Sallie Surface,executive

director,Choanoke Area Development Association,Inc.(Rebuild

Roanoke-Chowan).The cable access show,sponsored by the

North Carolina Department of Commerce,provided an overview of

the Rebuild America program followed by a Q&A session. Audience

questions focused on historic preservation,retrofitting school

buildings,developing and strengthening partnerships,and on how

to find out more about Rebuild America.

Midwest Region

The Chicago Regional Support Office (CRSO) has captured

its mission with a new tagline:“Your Source for Strategies and

Solutions.” According to Juli Pollitt,the CRSO chose this tagline

because the office doesn’t market energy efficiency per se;rather,it

helps communities and businesses identify their issues and then

proposes solutions that use energy efficiency and renewables. The

Rebuild America program is a key element in that approach,

because the CRSO will use the program to link new and existing

partnerships with other DOE programs.

The Rosebud Sioux tribe in Mission,SD,the first Native American

tribe to join Rebuild America,is positioning itself to become a player in

the energy sector. The tribe is setting up a Tribal Utility Authority

(TUA). As its first action,the TUA is taking steps to receive an allocation

of hydropower from dams in the western states along the Missouri

River. This marks the first time the tribes will have direct control over

the generation and transmission of power on the reservations.

The Rosebud Sioux and Lower Brule Sioux Tribe,another Rebuild

America partnership,are among 28 tribes in the Great Plains that are

eligible to receive a hydropower allocation from the Western Area

Power Administration (WAPA),a subgroup of the Department of

Energy.

The Rosebud Sioux must submit an Integrated Resources Plan to

WAPA as a precursor to receiving its hydropower allocation. The 

tribe is approaching this as an opportunity to develop a blueprint 

for wise energy use over the long-term by emphasizing renewable

energy and sustainable development,according to Bob Gough ,

attorney for the tribe.

“Getting power delivered to the reservation at lower rates is only

part of the picture,”he says.

The tribe also plans to develop solar and wind power,notes

Deanna Braunlin of GAVIN Consulting,Inc.,who is working with

the tribe to develop the TUA,evaluate projects,and recommend

energy policy.

“What they do today is important if they are to strategically position

themselves as players in the market tomorrow,” says Braunlin,a former

state legislator from Nevada.“The work they are doing will serve as a

template for other tribes.”

For more information, contact Rebuild America Program

Representative Doug Avery at (310) 798-6927 or e-mail

dougavery@earthlink.net

Native Americans Plan for Energy-Wise Future

3
Maryland Campus Reaches

Out to Community View from DC

Continued from page 2

important local support to expand 

your efforts.

Rebuild America’s Progress tracking

system will also show you the related

impacts of your partnership’s efforts,such

as avoided power plant construction,

enhanced property values,increased

employee productivity and other statistics

of interest to your community. Based on

your reported results,Rebuild America will

be in a better position to recognize your

partnership for its achievements through

awards,media coverage and more.

Your partnership results are useful in

compiling cumulative program results

which demonstrate that your partnership

is part of an exciting and growing

nationwide movement. Your results also

may motivate neighboring communities to

join Rebuild America. The information you

provide will help us quantify Rebuild

America’s impact on saving energy 

and reducing pollutants.

Your Rebuild America program

representative is a valuable resource to

assist you in getting your results on the

IMS,especially those partnerships that do

not yet have Internet access. Take

advantage of this free help.

It is critical that the Rebuild America

program,now into its fifth year,be able to

get an accurate reading on where the

program is and where it is going.

We can only get to this point with the 

full participation and cooperation of 

our partnerships. I know we can count 

on you to help us tell the Rebuild 

America story.

Mark Bailey is the national program

manager of Rebuild America.

For many years,the University of

Maryland,Baltimore (UMB) campus has been

a leader in developing and implementing

cost-effective,energy-efficient projects in the

City of Baltimore. UMB is now working with

Rebuild America to build on its success in

saving energy in campus buildings by

creating a steering committee to recruit,train

and support new partners from all sectors of

the community. The roll-out of this

expanded partnership is planned this spring.

Located in the hub of downtown

Baltimore,the UMB campus is known for its

schools of medicine,nursing,pharmacy,

dentistry,social work and law. The 48

buildings on campus date from 1807 to

1998 and encompass about 4 million square

feet. UMB facility professionals have pursued

a course of employing energy-saving

measures in campus buildings for the past

15 years and their efforts are paying off.

Despite the construction of new facilities

and the use of more energy-intensive,hightech research equipment,UMB has managed

to hold its energy costs steady at

approximately $10 million annually for the

past few years.

A Shared Mission

UMB’s success is largely due to a shared

belief among campus administrators,facility

management staff,operations and

maintenance personnel and design

engineers that energy efficiency adds value

to UMB’s mission to advance knowledge in

health care,law,social welfare and related

disciplines through research,teaching and

service. Collectively,they agreed to:

■ Use life-cycle costing

and take a long-term

view on energy initiatives

■ Coordinate energyefficiency

activities through the 

collaborative efforts of an energy 

master planning team 

■ Use a single “open”building

management system for real-time

monitoring and control that connects 

all major building systems 

■ Focus on finding capital — generated

both internally and externally 

Major Upgrades Completed

In 1984,the campus installed its first direct

digital control project,an upgrade of controls

on a rooftop air handling and cooling unit in

a converted warehouse. This marked the

launch of UMB’s energy conservation

program. In 1985,the campus took an 80-

year-old building with a 160-ton demand

load and satisfied it with a 100-ton chiller

and thermal ice storage to manage loads.

In 1992,UMB retrofitted lighting in a

300,000 square-foot medical research facility,

cutting energy usage by 40 percent. One

year later,the University retrofitted the

School of Pharmacy and realized a three-year

payback on energy savings. Since then,UMB

started to use a master lighting control

system,as well as motion and heat sensors.

All told,over 30 percent of the campus

lighting has been retrofitted.

UMB’s mechanical and electrical systems

also have been substantially upgraded.

Setting an Example

As an urban campus in the midst of a

downtown undergoing continuous

redevelopment,UMB is uniquely positioned

to draw key community players in Baltimore

into the Rebuild America fold.

For more information on the UMB

partnership, contact Robert Rowan,

Assistant Vice President, Office of Facilities

Management, University of Maryland,

Baltimore, at (410) 706-5000 or by e-mail 4 at rrowan@fm.umaryland.edu.
Market Sector

Each issue of Partner Update will examine a key partnership

sector of the Rebuild America program. In this issue, we spotlight

how public housing authorities tie in with Rebuild America.

More than 30 Rebuild America partnerships are active in efforts

to revitalize public and assisted housing,where the need is great

and the results can be dramatic. Many buildings in this sector have

outdated,inefficient heating,cooling and lighting systems and

energy upgrades can yield substantial savings. Increasingly,

partnerships active in downtown revitalization and redevelopment

efforts are including neighboring public and assisted housing

developments in their plans. The two primary methods of funding

building improvements are through HUD and energy savings

performance contracts.

HUD Resources Available

HUD subsidizes nearly 5 million single-family and multifamily

housing units. Approximately 1.3 million of these units are located

in more than 13,000 public housing developments across the

country. Most of the remaining assisted housing units are units in

which 1) the occupants are subsidized directly through Section 8

certificates or vouchers;2) private landlords are subsidized directly

by HUD;or 3) landlords receive tax credits for renting to lowincome households.

HUD resources available in this market sector provide excellent

marketing opportunities. The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit is

one of the most important HUD resources for creating affordable

housing. Participating states are given the equivalent of more than

$3 billion in annual budget authority to issue tax credits for the

acquisition,rehabilitation,or new construction of rental housing

targeted to lower-income households. An average of 1,300 projects

and 56,000 units are placed in service each year,with more than

half of these located in central cities.

The Community Development Block Grant Program provides

states,metropolitan cities and urban communities with annual

direct grants totaling about $4.6 billion to revitalize neighborhoods,

expand affordable housing and economic opportunities,and

improve community facilities and services,principally to benefit

low- and moderate-income families. Smaller but equally important

is the HOPE VI program. HUD has appropriated approximately

$500 million each year since 1993 for HOPE VI grants to fund

revitalization efforts in up to 25 communities with severely

distressed public housing developments and neighborhoods.

Performance Contracting

Several Rebuild America public housing authority partners in

Chicago,Los Angeles,Pittsburgh and Boston are using performance

contracting to pay for building energy improvements. Under HUD

guidelines,a housing authority may retain the energy savings for

work performed under a performance contract for up to 12 years.

This allows a housing authority to tap into private sector financing

to perform energy conservation measures and other capital

improvement projects. It also frees their modernization funds for

use on non-energy-related projects.

Rebuild America provides direct technical assistance to housing

authorities on performance contracting issues and implementation.

Rebuild America’s Financial Services is working with the HUD

Illinois Office to offer training on performance contracting for

public housing authorities,May 10-14,in Chicago. Check this

website for details: www.hud.gov/local/chi/chienv2.html.

Partnerships At Work

Thirty-four Rebuild America partnerships are working to make a

difference in the public and assisted housing sector. Rebuild

America program representative Cheryl Bertics has included the

Atlanta Housing Authority in the BOMA Atlanta Energy Alliance,

which is tasked with helping partnerships make informed

decisions about energy conservation. In Ohio,a component of the

City of Cuyahoga Falls partnership coordinates with projects

receiving community development block grants to assist lowincome residents in upgrading the energy efficiency of their

homes. And the Salisbury (NC) Public Housing Authority is

performing a major renovation of the community’s building for

seniors under its Rebuild America partnership which includes

replacing electric baseboard heating with a central,forced-air

heating system and installing new insulation,windows and doors.

The National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials

(NAHRO) is an important Rebuild America ally for the public and

assisted housing sector. NAHRO represents housing and

community development officials who administer HUD programs

at the local level. Its purpose is to create affordable housing and

safe,viable communities. Rebuild America is working with

Public and Assisted Housing Market Sector 

by Mark Ternes

5 Continued on page 6
Workbench

Increasingly,Rebuild America partnerships are realizing the benefits

of using of solar technologies in combination with energy-efficiency

measures. Solar power has assumed a higher profile since President

Clinton announced the Million Solar Roofs Initiative in June 1997. Its

goal is to install solar panels on 1 million roofs nationwide by 2010.

Some Rebuild partnerships may join the Million Solar Roofs effort to

help meet their Rebuild America goals.

Solar and Energy Efficiency Go Hand 

in Hand

Combining solar technology with energy efficiency throws a 1-2

punch at energy bills. By itself solar technology isn’t a cure-all – at

least not in terms of cost efficiency. Photovoltaic (PV) cells average

performance efficiencies of only 12 to 15 percent (based on a

crystalline-silicon PV cell) and cost .15 to .30 per kWh. This makes it

increasingly important for solar users to take positive steps to stretch

the energy they produce. That’s where energy efficiency comes 

into play.

Technology to the Rescue

A building owner or manager interested in solar applications

should take certain steps to maximize cost savings. First,a detailed

energy audit is required to analyze and report on the building load

and define retrofit objectives. Next,energy solutions may be

identified using one of the many software tools on the market.

These energy and information analysis programs share the same

essential features:

Data gathering – interfacing with existing energy management

systems,environmental control equipment,load profile metering,and

utility billing.

Information

management

– using a

central hub

(such as a

website) to

compile

information

and provide a

visual interface.

Data from monitoring devices is brought back to the server for

storage and retrieval.

Analysis – allowing users to request and depict specific segments of

information in charts,tables,graphs and other visual formats.

In addition,some software programs offer support personnel who

will review the information and make recommendations on energy

cost savings.

Bluffsview Goes Solar

The Bluffsview Elementary School in Ohio is one Rebuild America

retrofit project that has gone solar. The school,a project of the 1500

Days, Central Ohio Energy Efficiency Project,is using Datapult,

an energy analysis program from American Electric Power,to observe

and analyze the school’s energy load and energy mix,including

power generated by the school’s solar panel.[See Partnership Briefs,

Jan.-Feb.1999 Partner Update.]

Bluffsview Assistant Principal Karen Goff said the solar panel has

spurred a barrage of energy questions from the kids and has piqued

their interest in energy-efficiency measures. She says the students are

using Datapult to see how energy flows in the facility,which has

encouraged them to make suggestions for energy-efficiency

improvements. “The possibilities for making connections that

extend our students’thinking are endless,”Goff said.

For more on the Million Solar Roofs Initiative, visit

www.eren.doe.gov/millionroofs/. For more about the Bluffsview

School or other solar applications in schools, contact Glen Kizer,

of Rebuild America’s 1500 Days, Central Ohio partnership 

at (614) 823-6243.

6

Solar Strategies Boost Energy Performance

NAHRO by publishing articles on energy approaches and success stories

in their monthly journal,and providing training on 

energy measures and performance contracting at their summer 

and annual meetings.

Mark Ternes is Rebuild America’s sector manager for public and

assisted housing. He is also a senior staff member of Oak Ridge

National Laboratory, where he oversees the residential program. He

can be reached at (423) 574-0749 or tmp@ornl.gov. For more

information, visit HUD at www.hud.gov and NAHRO at

www.nahro.org.

Public and Assisted Housing

Continued from page 5

Children at Bluffsview Elementary School 

are learning how the PV roof installed at their

school helps to meet building energy needs.
Partnership Briefs

Key players in the Town of Fairfield (CT) Rebuild America

partnership were recognized on February 4 for their efforts to

achieve energy savings in municipal and school buildings

representing about 1.5 million square feet. Rebuild America Boston

Regional Team Leader Greg Davoren honored First Selectman

Kenneth Flatto with an Action Partnership Award and Certificate,

and presented Certificates of Recognition to Department of Public

Works officials including Richard White,director;Ronald Manning,

operations director;Ed Boman,assistant director;and to David

Fryer, facilities manager for the Board of Education. John Ruckes,

Rebuild America representative for Connecticut,said the Town of

Fairfield has been one of the leaders in adopting energy-efficient

practices,citing improvements such as the fuel conversion of

municipal vehicles to natural gas and lighting upgrades to the

Independence Hall building that reduce electricity costs by 

22 percent.

“The Man Who Set Out to Save a Town,” an article in the March

issue of North Carolina magazine,explores how Conway Rose,

leader of the LaGrange Redevelopment Foundation partnership,

managed to turn around the dying town of LaGrange,N.C.(See Rose

profile,Jan.-Feb.1999 Partner Update.) The article credits Rebuild

America with giving the Foundation a boost in its efforts to revitalize

13 historic buildings in the commercial district.

The first building in the nation to receive

the Energy Star Label for Buildings is San

Diego’s Ridgehaven Building,home to 

the city’s Environmental Services 

Department (ESD).

The Ridgehaven building,profiled in 

the Summer 1997 Partner Update,earned a

score of 90 on the Energy Star Benchmarking

Tool,meaning the building’s energy

performance is in the top 10 percent of

buildings in its class.

“I’m happy we’re being recognized

because it will raise awareness of what we’ve

done,and it will help us serve as a role model

for other communities,”said ESD Director

Richard L. Hays.

The Energy Star Label for Buildings

recognizes public and commercial buildings

that have energy performance among the top

25 percent of buildings nationwide. It is a

joint project of the U.S.Department of

Energy and U.S.Environmental Protection

Agency (see Nov.-Dec.1998 Partner Update).

San Diego bought the three-story,73,000-

square-foot building in 1996 for $3 million to

house the ESD’s headquarters. Employees

encouraged Hays and Mayor Susan Golding

to turn Ridgehaven into a national model of

an energy-efficient,environmentally sound

workplace.

They partnered with Rebuild America,San

Diego Gas & Electric,the Electric Power

Research Institute,Public Technology Inc.,

and the U.S.Green Building Council to

complete a $2.7 million top-to-bottom

renovation. The work included:

■ Reusing interior items like doors,

partitions,acoustical tiles and window

blinds.

■ Installing a new HVAC system with

high-efficiency water source heat

pumps,radial open-type cooling towers

that use 5 hp fans,and a computer

based centralized control system.

■ Applying high-performance window

film and vinyl awnings,and lighting the

building with T8 fluorescent lamps,

electronic ballast and occupancy

sensors.

■ Installing water-conservation features

like low-flush toilets and electronic

sensors on faucets.

In addition,the construction crew

separated and recycled more than 40 tons of

debris. Throughout the project,emphasis was

given to materials that were minimally toxic

and were recycled,recyclable or renewable.

The results are impressive. Ridgehaven

uses 65 percent less energy than it did before

the renovation – a savings of $84,000 a year

from the baseline annual costs of $129,000.

The building is also more comfortable for

employees,enhancing their productivity.

“Now the building can fulfill its role – and

we’re going to continue making

improvements and extend the life of the

building,”Hays said. One result of the

Ridgehaven project was inspiring the San

Diego City Council to pass a Green Building

policy that codifies the city’s commitment to

sustainable development.

For more information about Ridgehaven,

contact Lisa Wood at (619) 573-1236 or 

e-mail lfw@sdcity.sannet.gov. For more

information about the Energy Star Label for

Buildings, visit www.epa.gov/buildinglabel.

7

San Diego to be Recognized for “Green” Building
West Haven Springs

Into Action

The City of West Haven (CT) partnership has

sprung into action with plans to achieve $500,000

in annual savings with a $3 million investment in

efficiency improvements to City schools,municipal

buildings and public housing units. The first phase,

which addressed lighting upgrades to athletic

facilities in seven schools,has been completed. The

investment of $141,000 in high-efficiency

fluorescent lighting and high-pressure sodium and

metal halide upgrades to gymnasiums and

swimming pools facilities in six City schools will

yield annual savings of $34,000,according to

partnership leader Abdul Quadir,City Engineer for

West Haven. The City of West Haven partnership

has entered into a performance contract to fund the

improvements.

The partnership will undertake lighting retrofits

and mechanical systems upgrades to all 13 schools,

which represent 1 million square feet,this summer.

It is presently working on lighting and mechanical

upgrades to four municipal buildings representing

200,000 square feet. As part of its work with the

West Haven Public Housing Authority,the

partnership is testing a boiler control device that

can achieve 10 to 20 percent energy savings in

more than 600 City-owned housing units.

For more information, contact Abdul Quadir 

at (203) 937-3575.

Earth Day Looks to 

the New Millennium

Many of us turn our attention to Earth Day this time of year and it’s not too early to

begin thinking about April 22,2000. On Earth Day 2000,millions of people will gather

to demonstrate their commitment to building a cleaner,more sustainable planet,a goal

shared by the Rebuild America program. Given the Rebuild America mission to save

energy and benefit the environment,it is wholly appropriate that Rebuild partnerships

across the nation join local Earth Day campaigns. What better way to send the

message that energy efficiency saves money,creates jobs and promotes economic

growth,while protecting the environment? 

Earth Day Is Established

The first Earth Day, April 22,1970,drew together more than 20 million people who

demanded that their leaders and fellow citizens begin to address our nation ’s

deepening environmental crisis. Among the participants in the first Earth Day were

10,000 K-12 schools,2,000 colleges,and 1,000 communities,making it the largest

grassroots demonstration in U.S.history.

On April 22,1990,20 years after Earth Day was founded,nearly 200 million people

from 141 nations participated in the first International Earth Day. Here in the U.S.,

approximately 70 million citizens took part in 40,000 events,including a huge

gathering in New York City and on the Capitol Mall in Washington,DC.

What Partnerships Can Do for Earth Day 2000

There are many ways for Rebuild America partnerships to get started with planning

activities for Earth Day 2000:

■ Call local environmental groups to find out what they are planning and how

Rebuild America partnerships might join in.

■ Set up Rebuild America exhibits in local libraries,schools,supermarkets and

other businesses.

■ Send information about local Rebuild America partnerships to local officials,

business and economic development organizations and media,with a cover

letter highlighting the connection between Earth Day and Rebuild America

activities.

■ Check local newspaper “events”columns and web sites for Earth Day activities

and then participate in,or exhibit at,those events.

■ Launch a “year of environmental action”campaign,culminating with Earth Day

2000 activities.

Many national organizations have started planning the Earth Day 2000 campaign,

including the Earth Day Network that is chaired by Denis Hays. Hays and Senator

Gaylord Nelson were the organizers of the first Earth Day event. Hays has set up an

energy coalition to craft clean energy legislation to serve as a centerpiece for Earth Day

2000.

For more information on Earth Day 2000 activities, visit www.earthday.org or 8 www.earthday.net or call the Earth Day Network at (206) 264-0114.

Students at Bailey Junior High School in 

West Haven play volleyball under greatly

improved lighting conditions.
Utah Campus Tackles Aging Buildings

Colleges and universities across the country

are grappling with problems as campus

buildings and mechanical systems age. The

University of Utah in Salt Lake City has decided

to do something about it. It has opted to use

performance contracting to finance $31 million

in energy improvements that include the

retrofitting of 23 buildings and the

construction of a new chiller plant. Roughly

one third of that amount -- $10 million – will be

invested in building retrofits.

“The university gets high marks for being

innovative and putting aside traditional forms

of project financing,”said Mike Glenn,director

of the Utah Office of Energy Services and lead

for the Rebuild America Western States

Coalition partnership. “State appropriations

were never enough to do what needed to be

done. The University of Utah serves as a

regional example of how universities can

improve their campuses and save money by

investing in energy efficiency.”

One of the first projects fostered under the

western states partnership was with the

University of Utah,which has a student

population of 26,000. The 10 state energy

offices that comprise the partnership work

with energy service company (ESCO)

representatives to overcome barriers to

performance contracting among facility

managers.

The university worked with a team from the

Utah Energy Office and the Division of

Facilities Construction and Management in the

competitive selection of Viron Energy Services,

Inc. The ESCO has started work on 1.3 million

square feet in the Eastern portion of the

campus which houses health sciences,hospital,

school of medicine,nursing,pharmacy and

biomedical buildings.

“The University is targeting aging buildings –

30 to 40 years old -- that are inefficient in terms

of heating,cooling,lighting and water use,”

according to university plant operations

director Pieter van der Have. Approximately

$1.4 million in annual savings from the retrofit

of campus buildings will be reinvested in other

energy improvements on campus,such as the

replacement of several chiller plants with one

central high-efficiency plant.

“Performance contracting provides a

mechanism for financing and replacing

equipment which reduces our maintenance

liabilities,”noted van der Have. “It harvests

some great energy savings – and we get fewer

complaints from occupants.”

Other universities within the jurisdiction of

the western states partnership are using the

University of Utah as a model for their own

procurement. “Members of our western

coalition have benefited from help and support

from Rebuild America Financial Services,”said

Glenn.

For further information, contact Mike

Glenn at (801) 538-8690 or e-mail

mglenn@dced.state.ut.us. Pieter van der

Have can be reached at (801) 581-5082 or 

e-mail pvanderhave@campplan.utah.edu.

Each issue of Partner

Update will put the

spotlight on one of

Rebuild America’s 

program team.

Our first snapshot is 

of Charles Young, who is helping to

strengthen the Rebuild America network 

in the southern states.

Vital Statistics: 

Resides in Wake Forest,N.C.with wife,Amber;

children,Neil 13,Taylor 10,and Amanda 6;and

Abby, a jet-black cocker spaniel.

Current Role with Rebuild America: 

Full-time Rebuild America program

representative for North Carolina,Virginia,

Kentucky and Tennessee. Employed by Aspen

Systems Corporation.

How did you become involved with 

Rebuild America? I have a background in

energy training and weatherization and was

appointed Rebuild America state representative

while with the North Carolina Department of

Commerce.

Most rewarding aspect of your work 

with Rebuild America: When representatives

of a community discover that the expense of

operating inefficient buildings can be redirected

to pay for energy-efficiency retrofits and create

energy savings and other investment in the

community.

Your greatest Rebuild America challenge: 

Offering excellent service to partnerships.

Pet peeve: 

Communities that are not forward thinking.

Person you most admire and why: Richard

Petty #43 – he’s honest, genuine and a hero to

children.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Coach youth sports, especially soccer and baseball.

If you won $10 million, what would you

do with it? I’d invest in innovative education

solutions for all children. I’d also invest in 

youth sports.

If you could live anywhere

in the world, where would

you go? Mayberry.

Snapshot

9
On February 5,Rebuild America honored the City and County of

Honolulu partnership for becoming the program’s 200th partnership.

Eileen Yoshinaka of DOE’s Seattle Regional Support Office (SRSO)

presented the Centennial Partnership Award to Jeremy Harris,mayor

of the City and County of Honolulu,at the Cities for Climate Protection

Campaign forum.Other participants included Maurice Kaya of the

State of Hawaii Department of Business,Economic Development and

Tourism and Abby Young of the International Council for Local

Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI).

“The forum provided a good opportunity to recognize the City and

County of Honolulu’s Rebuild America partnership,”said Yoshinaka.

The forum was sponsored by the SRSO,the State Energy Office and

ICLEI.

The Honolulu partnership plans to first retrofit the 100,000 squarefoot Honolulu Hale building,which contains the Mayor’s office and the

City Council chambers.The facility currently consumes 2 million kWh

annually. Energy savings are projected at approximately $40,000 a year.

Using the Hale facility as a model,the City and County will use

performance contacting to finance the projects the retrofitting of other

municipal buildings. Phase II will target approximately 2 million

square feet of office space,police stations and fire stations that has an

annual energy consumption of 30 million kWh. In addition to its

Rebuild America activities,the City and County of Honolulu has 

been an active DOE Clean Cities partner since 1995.

For more information, contact Eileen Yoshinaka at 

(808) 541-2564 or email eileen.yoshinaka@hq.doe.gov.

200th Rebuild America Partnership Honored

Roanoke-Chowan Takes the Next Step

Rebuild Roanoke-Chowan (NC) partnership,headed by the

Choanoke Area Development Association (CADA),is taking a pivotal

step in its carefully orchestrated plan to attract small business

participation in energy retrofits. The partnership has prepared an

incentive package that includes energy-efficiency financing options to

encourage area businesses to save energy dollars by committing to

building energy improvements.

In February,the partnership hosted a tour of area buildings

undergoing energy retrofits that included the Town Hall and library in

Murfreesboro,a small business incubator development in Windsor,

and a municipal building and fire department in Aulander. Rebuild

America Customer Service Manager Jeff Brown and Program

Representative Kirk Bond joined CADA officials and community

leaders on the tour. The Roanoke-Chowan News Herald quoted

CADA Director Sallie Surface in its coverage of the tour:“What

Rebuild America does is give us access 

to technologies not readily available to 

us here.”

Partnership plans to build participation in

the business community took shape last

summer when it trained high school and college students how to use

a diagnostic energy management software tool through the Job

Training Partnership Act program. The students performed energy

audits on 120 public and private-sector buildings in a four-county area

and the Oak Ridge National Laboratories analyzed the data they

gathered. Rebuild Roanoke-Chowan held an Energy Forum last fall to

share the results with owners and managers of participating

buildings.

“The Forum succeeded in getting business leaders to think seriously

about the positive impact that investing in energy efficiency would

have on their businesses and their communities,”said partnership

spokesman Melvin Powers. Using incentives to encourage

businesses to commit resources to improving building efficiency is a

critical next step,he noted. A second focus of the partnership is to

get schools in the community to make a similar commitment. Powers

sees an opportunity for students to become key participants in this

effort.

For more information contact Melvin Powers at (252)539-4155 10 or e-mail cada@coastalnet.com.

Mayor Jeremy Harris of Honolulu receives the

Centennial Partnership Award from Eileen

Yoshinaka of the SRSO.
Rebuild America News

Upcoming Events

FEDfacilities Conference,May 4-5,

1999 in Washington,DC. Professional

development program and exhibition for

facility and administrative managers of

government buildings. Free event. Visit

http://fedfacilities.reedxpo.com.

Public Housing Authorities

Directors Annual Conference,June 6-9,

1999 in Nashville,TN. Visit

www.phada.org.

Annual Leadership Conference for

the National Association for

Community Leadership,June 10-13,

1999 in Indianapolis,IN. Visit

http://communityleadership.org.

U.S. Conference of Mayors Annual

Conference,June 11-15,New Orleans,LA.

Visit www.usmayors.org

92nd Annual Convention of the

Building Owners and Managers

Association,International,June 20-22,

1999 in Atlanta,GA. Visit www.boma.org.

86th Annual Conference of the

Association of Higher Education

Facilities Officers,June 20-22,1999 in

Cincinnati,OH. Visit www.appa.org.

Energy ‘99, August 23-25,1999 in

Orlando,FL. This energy-efficiency

workshop and expo includes sessions on

whole building design,financing/project

development,operations and

maintenance,sourcing energy,and

technology. The conference is sponsored

by DOE,FEMP,the State of Florida and

others. Contact JoAnn Stirling at 

(800) 395-8574. 11

The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Clearinghouse (EREC) has become the one-stop

shop for Rebuild America partnerships and program

team members who need program resources.

Contact EREC for:

• Answers and advice on program or technical

questions 

• Direct technical assistance (for partnerships

implementing action plans) 

• Information on workshops and training events 

• Documents and software produced by Rebuild

America and other DOE programs 

The process is easy. Callers requesting general

program information and documents will receive

immediate assistance from an EREC information

specialist.More detailed or technical inquiries will be

forwarded to technical specialists,such as Don Fort

and Bill Mixon,coordinator of Rebuild America

technical assistance. These specialists will respond

within 24 hours if possible,and in any event,within

72 hours.

EREC also is compiling information and

documents about private- and public-sector

resources that may be helpful to Rebuild

partnerships and program team members. In short,

if you have a question,need a product or assistance,

or have useful information to share,contact EREC.

Phone: 1-800-DOE-EREC

Fax: 703-893-0400

TDD#: 1-800-273-2957

E-Mail: doe.erec@nciinc.com

Mail: P.O.Box 3048 Merrifield,VA 

22116

Via EREN: Ask the Energy Expert at 

http://www.eren.doe.gov

For additional information about EREC, or if

you have comments or suggestions about this

service, contact Bill Mixon (billmixon@icx.net);

Chip Larson, Rebuild America products and

services manager (chip.larson@pnl.gov);or your

program representative.

Solutions

environmental controls. Several AMC

theaters are reducing their energy costs

by 28 percent,Kizer said. AMC is also

displaying Solar Schools Posters in their

lobbies.

Another 1500 Days partner, Ashland

Chemical,“bought in”to investing in

energy-efficiency in stages and is saving

$250,000 a year as a result,Kizer said.

The company started with lighting

upgrades and later added occupancy

sensors,a cogeneration system,and

HVAC improvements.

Kizer and the Foundation are

producing a television series titled

Environmental Weekly for PBS,college

stations and K-12 schools. The series 

is uplinked monthly and is available 

to millions of homes and thousands 

of schools.

Kizer brings a substantial amount of

energy efficiency experience to Rebuild

America. He had an environmental law

practice in Ohio for 10 years and prior

to that served as Ohio assistant attorney

general in environmental law. While

with the Ohio DNR,he oversaw a

project that resulted in the planting of 1

million trees in 30 days. He is presently

working on a tree planting initiative for

the United Nations.

“We have no plans to stop,”Kizer

said of his Rebuild partnership.

“We are taking what we’ve learned to

expand our energy efficiency activities

in the future.”

Profile

Continued from page 2
Rebuild America is


proud to add these 


new partnerships to the 


many communities and 


businesses nationwide 


that are saving money 


through energy efficiency.

Rebuild America is a network of community

partnerships – made up of local governments

and businesses – that save money by saving

energy. These voluntary partnerships, working

with the U.S. Department of Energy, choose the

best ways to improve the energy efficiency of

commercial, government and apartment

buildings. Rebuild America supports them

with business and technical tools and 

customized assistance.

By the year 2003, 250 Rebuild America 

partnerships will be involved in over 

2 billion square feet of building renovations,

which will save $650 million every year in

energy costs, generate $3 billion in private

community investment, create 26,000 new

private sector jobs, and reduce air pollution by

1.6 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.

Rebuild America 

Office of Building Technology,

State and Community Programs

U.S.Department of Energy

1000 Independence Avenue,SW

Washington,DC 20585-0121

Address Correction Requested

City of Beckley, WV

City of Caldwell, ID

City of Shelton, CT 

Indianapolis, IN, Northwest Gateway New 

Village Initiative

Kewanee, IL, Chamber of Commerce

Nevada Army National Guard 

New Albany, IN, Develop New Albany, Inc.

Rebuild Ada County, ID

Rebuild Georgia

Rebuild Oregon State Parks

Sacramento Municipal Utility District (CA)

11

Mark your calendar!

1999 Rebuild America National Forum 

August 9-11

MGM Grand Hotel

Las Vegas, Nevada The Rebuild America National Forum and conferences

such as energyNow, pictured above, which was

hosted by DOE’s Philadelphia Regional Support

Office, present valuable opportunities for Rebuild

America partnerships to share ideas.