HILLSBOROUGH: GOP says energy moves saved money for town

Campaign Corner

(This material was submitted by the candidates for Township Committee.)
    Republican candidates for Township Committee say Hillsborough’s sustainability program and “vision for a reasonable approach” to leveraging green technology and other sustainable initiatives have generated taxpayer savings.
    Since the inception of the Sustainable Hillsborough Steering Committee in 2006, Hillsborough Township has striven to implement a sustainability development plan, they said.
    Working with the Planning Board, the Township Committee has passed solar and wind energy ordinances to encourage the use of these technologies.
    In November 2009, Hillsborough met the requirements to achieve Sustainable Jersey certification, which “gave Hillsborough the edge in qualifying for ‘green’ grants for environmental improvements and energy savings,” said Greg Burchette, who is running with Mayor Carl Suraci for three-year terms.
    Hillsborough took advantage of these taxpayer-saving grant opportunities to develop a Natural Resource Inventory, an energy audit and solar panels for the municipal building and the public works garage, Mr. Burchette said.
    “This year, Hillsborough saw the fruition of its most significant effort to-date, the full implementation of the Siemens’ Energy Savings Improvement Plan,” he said.
    The plan included the replacement of the municipal building’s original 20-year-old roof and the outdated HVAC system.
    Through the facility improvement measures, Hillsborough is expected to see a minimum of $1.2 million in energy costs savings, while getting a new roof, 34 HVAC units, a central control system, lighting upgrades and solar derived power, the Republicans said.
    By installing a more energy-efficient HVAC system and solar panels, Hillsborough significantly offset the cost of replacing the roof and HVAC. This plan provided energy efficiency with an upfront investment that will continue to pay dividends for generations.
    “In fact, on July 4th, with the building closed, the solar panel system fed energy back into the grid,” said Mr. Suraci.