Celebrating Energy Efficiency Day: How Manatee County addresses energy conservation

By Hjalmar Pachas, Facilities & Building Technology Coordinator, and Jasmine Seitz, Energy & Sustainability Intern

Energy efficiency is one of the most impactful ways to reduce pollution, save costs, and promote a healthier planet. Manatee County proudly tracks our energy consumption and implements energy-reducing policy and procedures to better serve our residents.

Simply put: Energy efficiency means using less energy to perform the same task, thereby eliminating energy waste.

Solar array at the Child Protective Services Building, which generates electricity for the building.

According to the Department of Energy, energy efficiency is “one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to combat climate change, clean the air we breathe, improve the competitiveness of our businesses, and reduce energy costs for consumers.”

The U.S. alone consumed 93 quadrillion British thermal units (BTUs) of energy in 2020. Of that number, only 21% came from renewable energy or nuclear sources, with the remaining 79% coming from fossil fuels (EIA 2020).

Here at Manatee County, energy efficiency efforts have long been regarded as standard operating procedure. Fortunately, nationwide efforts regarding energy efficiency have also blossomed over the years.

Manatee County’s downtown chiller plant, which provides cold-water energy to air condition a number of County facilities.

The platform that we use to track the County’s energy consumption is the federal government-backed system EnergyStar Portfolio Manager. The Environmental Protection Agency created this no-cost, interactive energy management tool so that entities can track and assess both their energy and water consumption. This tool allows us to not only capture consumption rates, but also other important data including the total costs and usage trends, and helps us to identify any abnormalities among Manatee County’s facilities. Furthermore, the Board of County Commissioners and County Administration approved Manatee County’s first formal Energy Policy and Procedures earlier this year, which focus on various energy reduction measures.

Our goal is to reduce the energy consumption generated by our buildings, facilities and operations by a minimum of 10% over the next five years, beginning in 2022.

To achieve this goal, we aim to implement the following measures:

• Consider and deploy the use of renewable or clean energy sources as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels whenever possible.
• Where alternative fuels and/or renewable energy sources are not practical or cost-effective, we will encourage improving the efficiency of buildings, facilities and operations.
• We will explore the use of analysis and EnergyStar’s tracking tools to more effectively establish a baseline and best practices.

We are excited to push our energy efficiency efforts forward to reach our goal and do our part to contribute to positive change. We strongly believe these actions serve the best interests of Manatee County residents and the County organization, both now and in the future.

Manatee County has more than 60 solar-powered trash and recycling compactors, primarily located at County. beaches and parks. The solar powers the compactor, as well as a signal to notify Parks Maintenance teams when the compactor is full.

Learn more about energy and efficiencies by checking out the links below:

• https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts
• https://www.energy.gov/eere/energy-efficiency
• https://www.energystar.gov/buildings/tools-and-resources/portfolio-manager-0
• https://www.tbrpc.org/clearsky (a regional study on the feasibility of adding solar and storage to “critical” facilities)