City of Centralia, MO

The City of Centralia is the second largest city in Boone County, with a
population of 4,000.

The City first engaged ESP to conduct a detailed energy audit of city buildings in order to identify all of the possible energy saving options along with the cost and utility savings for each. The City then worked with ESP to narrow down that list to the most critical items that would yield the quickest return on investment.

The goals of the project included improving building comfort, saving energy, and replacing aging technology.

City Administrators passed a bill unanimously authorizing signing an agreement with ESP that would result in $254,000 in infrastructure upgrades. The improvements included new LED lighting at City Hall, the Fire Station and the Recreation Center. Street lights were replaced with LED lamps. Windows and building joints were sealed and new weatherstripping was installed around doors to greatly reduce air infiltration. Those buildings also received wifi enabled programmable thermostats to better manage the use of heating and air conditioning. Destratification fans were added in the Recreation Center to better mix air, save energy and improve comfort.

Additionally, the existing furnace and air conditioning units at City Hall underwent retro-commissioning with the goal of optimizing performance and useful life of the equipment.

Comfort in city buildings has been greatly improved. The City of Centralia was able to replace a significant amount of aging equipment and is using over $24,500 in annual savings to help pay for the improvments. Additionally, by using a vendor/technology independent company like ESP, the city was able to get competitive bids for each improvement that resulted in the best overall value for the money invested.