University Energy Study Designed To Help Reduce Rogers Energy Footprint, Save Money

— A University of Arkansas study should help reduce energy cost across the city, officials said.

"This will be a yearlong study that hopefully will give us information that will be beneficial in saving residents, businesses and industry on their electric and natural gas bills," said David Hook, city facilities development manager.

At A Glance

Energy Study

A University of Arkansas energy survey is expected to help Rogers residents and businesses conserve and reduce the cost of energy. Staff members have worked to reduce city government’s energy footprint.

• Sport fields and the aquatic center use LED lights. The bulbs cost more to buy, but last longer and use less electricity.

• Fluorescent lights, which use less electricity than incandescent bulbs, are installed throughout city buildings. The number of bulbs in each fixture has also been limited.

• Thermostats in municipal building are set lower in the winter and higher in the summer to reduce costs.

Source: Staff Report

"The university will conduct the study and provide the information to us to use in the best way possible," Hook said. "We will have the opportunity to learn about grants and other utility programs that individuals or businesses can apply for to lower their energy footprint."

This is the second year the university has offered the study program. Last year, seven Arkansas cities participated in the study, including Fayetteville, Harrison and Arkadelphia, said Michele Halsell, managing director of the Applied Sustainability Center in the Sam Walton School of Business.

"We use electric and natural gas bills to determine how much energy is being used by residents, schools, businesses and industries. We determine what the energy cost is per square foot, and compare it to other parts of the country. That way city officials have an idea of how they stand on a national level," Halsell said.

Representatives of the seven cities in this year's study will attend a two-day meeting to learn about grants and other assistance that can be used to help reduce energy costs, Halsell said.

"As a participant in the study last year, we got some good ideas on how to save on energy costs," said Wade Phillips, director of public works in Harrison.

"It was helpful information, and increased our understanding of things we could do to reduce the municipality's energy usage and save taxpayers some money," Phillips said.

Harrison officials discovered that lighting on sports fields was costing the city more than it should.

"We are using sodium vapor lamps, which take a lot electricity. We are going to see what it will cost to change to LED lights in the future," Phillips said.

Information on ways to save energy was placed on the city website, he said.

Don Marr, Fayetteville's chief of city staff, agreed the university energy study was beneficial.

"We learned how our cost of energy compares to the best in class and the average city. It was a huge help in raising our awareness and how we, as a city, can lower our energy usage. If you help residents and businesses to reduce their energy cost, they have money to spend on other things which is good for everybody," Marr said.

Deborah Sesser, director of grants and research for the city of Arkadelphia, said the study was very helpful.

"We've been working on cutting the city's energy cost since 2009. We switched all of our police cars to hybrid models and cut our gasoline bill in half," Sesser said.

"Some of the police officers weren't in favor of getting Toyota Camrys as police cars at first, but when they found out how much money was being saved on gasoline, they were thrilled. They found they could use the savings to buy other police equipment. Everybody is on board with the program now," she said.

The study was a good way to share information with other cities in the study group, she said.

"We were able to tell the other cities what we were doing and learn what they were doing to conserve energy in return," Sesser said.

"Getting the cities together to share ideas is beneficial for everyone," Halsell said. "That way each city doesn't have to reinvent the wheel to save energy. City officials take that information from another city and tailor it to fit another city's particular need."

NW News on 02/24/2014

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