Study will examine major buildings in Cranbury
By: Megan DeMarco
The Township Committee agreed Monday to hire Metro Energy Solutions to begin an energy audit of the Cranbury municipal buildings.
The $7,448 study will include an examination of Town Hall, the police department, fire department, fire museum on South Main Street, pump stations and Cranbury Museum. Township officials have said that the study’s goal is to help the township save money, and possibly find ways to help the environment.
Brian Hamilton, a member of the township’s energy workgroup, said Metro may recommend to the school board that it do a similar audit. The workgroup, which solicited bids for the project, originally decided to focus on municipal facilities first.
"I assume the audit will commence as soon as is practical, given that some coordination will be required," he said.
Mr. Hamilton said Metro, located in West Caldwell, will begin by interviewing faculty managers in various buildings to determine energy usage, such as temperature settings at night and when the buildings are not in use.
Metro will then inspect the buildings and recommend areas where energy efficiency use could be improved.
Mr. Hamilton said recommendations could include changing the settings on a device, such as a boiler or water heater, or recommending an investment in new equipment.
If Metro finds old equipment, they may recommend that, instead of replacing it cheaply, the township instead buy a more expensive piece of equipment with a higher efficiency life cycle.
"In the long run it will save energy and, therefore, save money," Mr. Hamilton said.
Mr. Hamilton said Metro will also include an estimate of how long it will take for each piece of new equipment to pay off. Mr. Hamilton said the township would likely choose to replace equipment with the shortest payback period.
"Ultimately, you don’t have an unlimited amount of funds to implement everything all at once," he said. "The lowest hanging fruit will be harvested first."
The audit is expected to be completed by the early fall.
The township’s energy workgroup was put together in January by Mayor David Stout as a way of looking at ways to save energy costs. The group has been meeting once a month ever since, discussing potential ideas such as putting solar panels in one of the municipal buildings, but ultimately decided on the audit.
"The workgroup is a diverse group of residents all of whom are interested in the environment and saving energy and saving money for the township," Mr. Hamilton said. "Saving energy is the lowest cost means of achieving cost reductions and ultimately environmental benefits."
"Hopefully, the audit to be performed is going to identify a few savings opportunities," he said.