Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Energy-Saving Devices Cut Utility Costs for Santa Clarita

The city saved more than $20,000 in the three months after new light timers and temperature sensors were installed in its offices.

Santa Clarita’s 7-year-old City Hall building and field services facility were retrofitted in September by Honeywell Inc., which promised the city an estimated $70,000 a year in savings.

Utility bills for October through December, 1993, were $20,658 less than for the same period in 1992, according to Jesse Juarros, city general services manager.

“We are pleasantly surprised that the city has exceeded Honeywell’s cost-savings estimate and I feel we can maintain these savings in years to come,” Juarros said.

Most of the savings came from simply shutting off lights and temperature controls in unused work areas.

Timers were installed in City Hall to shut off heating and cooling units on holidays and after hours. Devices known as economizers were also added, allowing the building’s air conditioner to either directly lower indoor temperatures or draw in cooler air from the outside, whichever is cheaper.

New lights and circuits also were installed at the city’s Valencia field office, allowing lights to remain on only where work is occurring.

The cost of the retrofitting and an ongoing maintenance contract is $289,405, with Honeywell spreading Santa Clarita’s payments over five years. It allows the city to pay for the work with its utility savings and still clear $6,500 to $18,000 annually over the next few years.

“It’s a self-funding program,” said Ken Casey, Honeywell municipal account representative. “If it doesn’t make (the predicted savings), we write a check for the annual difference.”

Once the cost of the retrofitting work is covered, Santa Clarita will earn the full annual savings--estimated at $77,000 by 1999 and growing thereafter.

With repairs being made to City Hall in the wake of the Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake, additional lights may be retrofitted as well, Casey said.

“It has to be replaced, so we might as well put in the smart stuff,” Casey said.

Those replacements could save Santa Clarita an additional $25,000 per year, Juarros said.