Energy Conservation
Mission
The Town of Brookline’s Energy Conservation mission is to encourage and facilitate energy conservation, energy efficient practices, and the use of sustainable energy in the Town of Brookline, including Public Buildings, properties, and residential homes owned by the town.
Carbon Footprint
Based on the graphic above the Town of Brookline has been making strides in improving the carbon footprint we have on our environment. This has been done through a series of Green Projects that have compounded to contribute to the downward curve of our overall greenhouse gases emitted into the environment. Most noticeable is the electricity usage being reduced. Contributing to this are many different projects that range through all different fields. The section below illustrates what has been done to reduce utility usage.
The Town has started and completed a few solar installs on the roofs of the Public Health center and Putterham library. There are currently solar roof installations going on at the Florida Ruffin Ridley School, High School, and Runkle to further the reduction of electricity by creating it in a clean way. After that the Pool/Phys Ed Buildings, the Heath School, and Municipal Garage will be next. Another thing we have done at buildings across town has been installing LED lighting fixtures. On average they save 75% more electricity and last much longer than traditional incandescent light fixtures. The Brookline facilities of Public Safety, Main Library, New Lincoln School, Public Health and Soule Recreation had their existing lighting upgraded to LED as part of grant projects. To add to this the lighting controls in most buildings are monitored by occupancy sensors that will automatically turn off lights in rooms that are not occupied to ensure that lights do not stay on when they are not needed. For our larger HVAC equipment across town we have installed VFD (variable frequency drives) that throttle the electricity to the units (Ex. Fans,Pumps) so that they are not running at their peak and wasting electricity. Another example for the heavy equipment being controlled is setting unoccupied and occupied temperature setpoints to the buildings. By doing this the building only runs (heats/cools) when the building is being occupied so it is not constantly trying to keep a comfortable space when the building has no occupants.
With these improvements throughout the years we can now look to this graph to see the outcomes of the many green projects coming together. As stated above these projects are still continuing so only better results are to come from these projects.
Solar Projects
Putterham Library Live Updates link
Planned Solar at other Municipal Sites
Sustainable Control Strategies for HVAC/ Lighting Systems
- Daylight Dimming for Lights
- Daylighting
- Demand Control Ventilation
- Demand Limiting Power
- Economizers
- Heating Recovery Units (Recovery Wheel)
- High Efficiency Condensing Boilers
- High Efficiency Motors and LED Lighting
- Lighting Controls
- Night Setback; Optimal Start Timing/Scheduling
- Occupancy sensors for Lighting and HVAC
- Standardizing one control system
- System Commissioning
- Temperature Control Resets
- Variable Frequency Drives for Pumps and Fans
Buildings that are Undergoing Energy Conservation Projects
- Town Buildings: Town Hall, Public Health, Senior Center, Fire Station 1, Fire Station 4, Fire Station 5, Fire Station 6, Fire Station 7, Main Library, Putterham Library, Coolidge Corner Library, Larz Anderson Refrigeration Building and Rink,Water Dept. Garage, Municipal Garage, Soule Recreation Center, Soule Rec. Gym, Putterham Golf club, Kirrane Aquatics Center, Eliot Recreation Building, Carpenters Shop School Buildings: Baker School, Heath School, Lincoln School, Old Lincoln School,Lynch Recreation Building, Pierce Primary, Pierce School, Baldwin School, Driscoll School, Lawrence School, Runkle School, Florida Ridley School, Brookline High School, Unified Arts Building, and Tappan Gym
- Total Locations:36
Buildings that will be Receiving a Retrofit for LED Lighting and Ballasts:
- Public Safety Building
- Public Health Center
- Main Library
- New Lincoln School
- Soule Recreation Center
Town Wide Utilities Spending Over the last 5 Years:
Town Wide and Individual Department’s Utilities charts
Fiscal Year 2015-2019 Building Department Electricity spending and Kilowatt hours usage bar charts
Fiscal Year 2015-2019 Building Department Electricity spending pie charts
Fiscal Year 2015-2019 Building Department Natural Gas spending and Therms usage bar charts
Fiscal Year 2015-2019 Building Department Natural Gas spending pie charts