Schneider Electric -
May 27, 2009
Houston Inks $9.6 M Deal to Improve Energy Efficiency in Partnership with Clinton Climate Initiative
TAC Advances City’s Technological Leadership to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Municipal Buildings
HOUSTON -- May 27, 2009 -- Houston is taking the lead among major cities in reducing the energy consumption of city buildings and lowering greenhouse gas emissions as the first C40 city in the U.S. to announce a comprehensive building retrofit project under the Clinton Climate Initiative’s Building Retrofit Program. Houston has awarded TAC by Schneider Electric, the building management and energy services business of Schneider Electric, a $9.6 million performance contract involving seven of the city’s 271 buildings. TAC will implement numerous energy conservation measures (ECMs) at these city facilities to improve the efficiency of the buildings, and the money saved in utility costs will pay for the upgrades.
The William J. Clinton Foundation launched the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) to create and advance solutions to the core issues driving climate change. The CCI Building Retrofit program brings together many of the world’s largest cities, energy service firms and financial institutions in a landmark effort to reduce energy consumption in existing buildings.
“The city of Houston conducted a thorough search to find an ESCO that shared our objectives to find proactive solutions, use state-of-the-art equipment, and emphasize renewable energy sources and sustainability,” said Issa Dadoush, general services director for the city of Houston. “Buildings are responsible for more than 50 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in most cities, so retrofitting our facilities with more energy-efficient products and technologies is an important way we can reduce both energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.”
“TAC provides comprehensive packages of energy-efficient improvements designed to meet the specific needs of each customer. As a growing, premier employer and leader in the green-collar community, our professionals have unmatched expertise in delivering cost-saving projects that help our customers achieve more with their energy while using less of our natural resources,” said Jeff Drees, president of TAC Americas. “TAC delivers projects that provide measurable, quantifiable results around reducing energy consumption, operating costs, greenhouse gas emissions and the carbon footprint of buildings. Our solutions are based on the latest technologies and include renewable energy, indoor environmental quality improvement, sustainable design and more.”
Performance contracting offers many long-term benefits for municipalities of all sizes, such as improved facility efficiency, environmental protection and financial management. As a part of the agreement with the city of Houston, TAC will guarantee the amount of savings and agrees to pay the difference if that amount is not realized.
In total, the city of Houston has selected 271 buildings, containing 11 million square feet, in a variety of ages, sizes and configurations – from high-rise offices to single story structures – that are candidates for performance contracting. For the first phase, the city of Houston selected TAC to perform energy audits on seven municipal buildings containing 1.2 million square feet. Because existing structures comprise a massive source of energy use within cities, improving their efficiency will have a major impact. The retrofits TAC completes in a typical performance contract can lower energy use from 20 to 30 percent, so it is possible that the city of Houston could lower its CO2 carbon emissions by up to 1,647 tons. This is equal to taking 1,014 cars off the roads or planting 1,498 acres of trees.