| Local Policy Description: | Streetlight Conversion
Lighting of public places and streets is a major energy drain for municipalities. The City of Medford does not own the vast majority of the streetlights in the City. They are owned by either the electric utility, Massachusetts Electric, or the State through the Metropolitan District Commission. Although the utility owns the streetlights, the City pays the electricity bills. Therefore, having the most efficient lighting possible will not only reduce emissions, but will also generate cost savings for the City. The lighting industry is constantly developing new technologies that produce the same amount of light while using less energy and therefore creating a substantial cost savings in energy expenses. For streetlights, one of the most efficient lamps at this time is the high-pressure sodium vapor. The majority of the streetlights within Medford have been converted from the less efficient incandescent and mercury vapor lamps to the more efficient high-pressure sodium vapor. The high-pressure sodium lighting is 57 percent more efficient than incandescent, using 825 fewer kilowatt-hours (kWh), and 32 percent more efficient than mercury vapor, using 292 fewer kWh.
Medford should require any new streetlights added to its system be high-pressure sodium or the most energy efficient lamp at the time of purchase.
Streetlight Inventory
In a further effort to reduce emissions from streetlight usage, the City of Medford can conduct an inventory of all streetlights in the City to evaluate the necessity of each streetlight for public safety concerns. The Medford Energy Task Force will oversee this program, if initiated. To be effective, the program must detail specific criteria, as approved by the Chief of Police, for determining the necessity of each streetlight for the purposes of public safety. Once a light has been determined by the Energy Task Force and the Police Chief to be unnecessary for public safety the lamp will be removed from the streetlight and stored in a facility for re-use in another streetlight, if feasible, or should be recycled by a licensed contractor.
Traffic Light Conversion
In 1998, City traffic lights accounted for 114 tons of eCO2 and cost the City nearly $37,000. New technologies have been developed to replace energy-intensive incandescent bulbs in traffic signal lights with highly efficient light emitting diodes (LEDs). The technology is expected to reduce energy use by 90 percent, lower maintenance due to increased life, and incorporate innovations such as battery backup using photovoltaics. Any new traffic lights that are added onto the Medford system should be required to be LEDs.
Photovoltaic Recreational Lighting
The City of Medford manages over 20 parks. These parks are used primarily in the spring and summer. Due to the seasonal usage, this is a significant opportunity for installing photovoltaic cells to fuel the arc lights in the recreational fields. These lights will nearly eliminate emissions, but will also serve as a demonstration of the City's commitment to reduce its impact on the environment and to create a cleaner, healthier Medford. The City should establish a replacement schedule to phase in the photovoltaic lamps over a five-year period. Medford aims to have all lights in all municipally-owned recreational parks converted to photovoltaic lamps by 2010.
Green Procurement Policies
By inserting energy efficiency requirements into the procurement policies, Medford can guarantee that its efforts to reduce its emissions will not be compromised by having to choose the low- bidder. To ensure energy and cost savings for the future, the City of Medford should institute two important procurement policies: an Energy Star(r) or Equivalent Purchases Only Policy and Life Cycle Cost Analysis Policy. In addition, Medford should create a Green Energy Procurement Policy, which could be utilized, as renewable energy sources become more readily available.
Only Energy Star® or Equivalent Purchases
The City of Medford should require all new office appliances purchased for the City be Energy Star® or equivalent and should establish an Environmentally Preferable Product Program based on the program established by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
It is important to note that in order to be effective, Energy Star® products must have the specific energy efficient features active. The City of Medford should assign a member of the Data Processing Team to ensure that all computers and other office equipment with the Energy Star® logo are in the active mode. Additionally, the City could provide educational resources for its employees to train them on how to maintain the equipment in active mode and the benefits of doing so.
Require Life Cycle Cost Analysis
Currently, many of the most efficient products on the market tend to have a slightly higher up front cost than the competition, but by looking at the overall costs of owning the appliance, typically the more efficient product will be cheaper. Life Cycle Cost Analysis will examine the overall costs of an item including the maintenance and energy costs along with the initial costs of the item. Utilizing Life Cycle Cost Analysis will ensure that the most energy efficient product for the job will be purchased and avoid the downfalls of going with the cheapest product that costs much more to maintain and operate. The City of Medford should institute a procurement regulation requiring that Life Cycle Cost Analysis is evaluated before a major product purchase, such as computers, printers, copiers, etc., is made by any municipal department, including schools.
Block Purchasing of Green Energy
With the deregulation of electricity in Massachusetts, consumers are free to choose their electricity provider. An option communities have is to pool together their electricity needs and engage in block purchases in order to save money. Additionally, electricity providers will be better able to provide green energy options, which draw electricity from renewable energy resources.
Local governments now have the opportunity to build a block purchasing group either within the City or with other cities to buy green power from electric utilities. Medford could consider working with the City of Somerville and/or Tufts University to create a block purchasing group for green energy. Additionally, the City could pass a resolution requiring the utilities to provide a certain percentage of renewable energy sources to Medford customers.
Incentives for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Sources
In order to encourage efficiency upgrades, the City could reduce the cost of a permit for remodeling or building which include measures that increase efficiency and consider renewable energy sources for buildings.
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