HILLSBOROUGH: HVAC installed;solar panels next to arrive

Municipal building’s energy-saving makeover

By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
    Since Monday, 60-foot-high cranes have lifted replacement ventilation units onto the newly sealed roof at the municipal building, as the township implements a $2.15 million energy-savings plan for its headquarters facility.
   The cranes will continue to lift 34 ventilation units on and off the roof this week. Installation of solar panels will soon follow, said Township Administrator Mike Merdinger.
   Last June the Township Committee signed a contract with Siemens Industries to sell the electricity generated by the solar panels at a below-market rate in the first year, with an annual escalating cost, in exchange for replacing part of the roof.
   The energy savings plan developed by Siemens, the township’s energy service company (ESCO), includes the replacement of the 20-year-old roof and dated HVAC system and other facility improvements for the $2.1 million. In addition to infrastructure replacements and energy-saving enhancements within the building, the plan includes the installation of a solar photovoltaic system at no installation cost to the township.
   The township, with the energy conservation measures, will save a minimum of $1.2 million in energy costs, while getting a new roof, 34 HVAC units, a central control system, lighting upgrades and solar-derived power.
   The building houses township and school offices, police headquarters and the library. Replacing the HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) system without replacing the roof was “impractical,” the township said last year.
   The solar panels and more energy-efficient HVAC system “will significantly offset the cost of replacing the roof and HVAC system, said Township Committeewoman Gloria McCauley last year.
   Mr. Merdinger said the improved control system will allow the township to heat and cool the building as it used. People will even be able to adjust controls from their homes, he said.
   The roof was in disrepair and leaked through the drop ceilings with every rain storm, damaging the ceiling tiles, furniture and carpeting, township officials said last year. They deemed it no longer prudent to continue to spend money trying to repair a system that is in need of replacement.”
   ’This week’s work required closing parking lots at different stages. Early in the week, the lot at the Board of Education offices was blocked. Now, the work is organizing in the senior citizen parking lot on the opposite end of the building.