Posted by Janet Stroud — March 27, 2023 — Trane, by global climate innovator Trane Technologies, and the City of Alton, Illinois, have entered into an agreement for a comprehensive energy and infrastructure upgrade on all five City facilities.
Trane collaborated with a City of Alton project team to identify opportunities that support the City’s sustainability focus and energy reduction goals. Planned upgrades include replacing the outdated heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems in the City Hall, public works building, police station, and both fire stations with new energy-efficient HVAC infrastructure along with a web-based integrated building automation controls platform. As a result, the city anticipates realizing approximately $40,000 in energy savings annually.
Half of the annual energy savings will come from a new sustainable thermal energy storage system (example shown). Image courtesy of Trane
Half of the annual energy savings will come from a new sustainable thermal energy storage system, which will be installed outside the police station. These systems help buildings be more energy- and cost-efficient by storing energy created during off-peak times and discharging it when grid demand is high.
Mayor David Goins remarked:
Our City mission is deeply rooted in accountability, and we are proud that these infrastructure improvements will support our ability to be responsible stewards of public resources for years to come. Working with Trane, we were not only able to upgrade our existing infrastructure and improve our energy efficiency, we were also able to work together to find alternative sources of funding for the project, creating substantial savings for taxpayers.
City administration and Trane collaborated to fund the more than $7 million project. Identified early on as a candidate for the American Rescue Plan Act, the City of Alton worked with OMNIA Partners, Public Sector — a premier purchasing organization for state and local government, K-12 education, colleges and universities — to procure the funding. The City benefited from Trane’s pre-payment discount, which saved taxpayers $238,000, as well as more than $200,000 in federal and local utility incentives.
The City of Alton also expects to save a minimum of $50,000 in annual operational and maintenance costs thanks to the new systems.
The contract also solicited engagement from minority- and women-owned union subcontractors located in Madison County. The response greatly exceeded the City goals for the project, supporting both Trane Technologies’ and the City’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Jennifer Geen, senior account manager, Energy Services and Solutions, Trane, stated:
The City of Alton has entrusted us to help them achieve their energy efficiency goals and decrease their energy consumption. We look forward to working closely with the City of Alton to help save energy, reduce carbon emissions and implement facility upgrades that create more resilient, sustainable, healthy spaces for the community.
For more information about Trane’s commercial HVAC systems, visit the company’s website.
