Park district reduces energy consumption and saves over $11,000 a year

Overview

The Rim of the World Recreation and Park District is a special district serving the residents of San Bernardino in the California mountains encompassing approximately 110 square miles. Like many other special districts, Rim of the World is challenged to do more with less. Inefficient lighting and lack of centralized controls for sites throughout the district have wasted energy and impacted their budget. While the district understood that reducing their energy consumption through various energy efficiency upgrades would lower their operations and maintenance costs, they lacked both the personnel and funding needed to implement the upgrades.

Solution

After conducting an energy audit, Centrica Business Solutions recommended upgrading facility lighting (both inside and out) to high-efficiency light-emitting diode (LED), adding basic lighting controls, installing network thermostats to centralize control of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in all district sites, and installing a solar photovoltaic (PV) system to reduce energy consumption and reliance on the grid. Centrica Business Solutions helped the district secure the funding needed for all upgrades by combining an Energy Performance Contract with a low-interest loan from the California Energy Commission.

Customer results

In addition to reducing the district’s energy costs, the combination of efficiency measures will dramatically improve the comfort and safety of district facilities.